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Presidential election in Turkmenistan draws huge turnout

Young Turkmens wearing their native costumes dance in front of a polling station to mark the presidential elections in the village of Gyami just outside Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Turkmens cast ballots to replace late president Saparmurat Niyazov in a tightly controlled election with no foreign monitors in which the winner appeared all but certain.

Election officials said on Sunday that turnout was 98.65 percent after polls closed at 6pm. Preliminary results are expected today.

It was the ex-Soviet republic's first presidential vote with more than one candidate, and the clear favorite -- acting President Gurnabguli Berdymukhamedov -- has hinted at reforms, raising hopes that the country will open up after two decades of isolation and suppression under Niyazov.

Turkmenistan is of substantial interest to Russia and the West because of its enormous natural gas reserves -- and its status as a stable, neutral country bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

The state Turkmen Press news agency called the vote "a true national holiday" that demonstrated "Turkmens' civil maturity."

Berdymukhamedov and his five opponents, little-known officials, all are members of the country's only legal political party and were appointed by the People's Assembly, the highest legislative body, which is scheduled to meet tomorrow to endorse a winner.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not send an election-monitoring mission, nor did the Common-wealth of Independent States.

Goran Lennmarker, chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, told reporters in Ashgabat on Saturday that the vote was "a step ... in the development of your democracy."

Exiled opposition figures have not been able to return to Turkmenistan since Niyazov's Dec. 21 death, and many foreign journalists were denied visas to cover the election.

Niyazov -- who fostered an extensive personality cult -- still dominates the country's psyche nearly two months after his death. At a polling station in Niyazov's hometown of Kipchak, his portrait was on all the walls.

Berdymukhamedov, by contrast, has kept a fairly low profile. He ceded his allotted television campaign time to the other candidates.

He also startled observers with a series of remarks including a promise to allow unrestricted Internet access for all Turkmens, support for entrepreneurship, social reforms and a widening of educational opportunities.

But Berdymukhamedov, who is also the deputy prime minister, has not spoken of political reform.
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