Turkmenistan's top legislative body was to meet yesterday to set a date and candidates for a presidential election to replace the late Sapurmurat Niyazov, who ran the country with an all-encompassing personality cult.
Niyazov died last week without leaving an apparent preferred successor. The country also has no election law laying down details of how voting is to be conducted.
Acting President Gurbungali Berdymukhamedov said last week that the presidential election would be held "on a democratic basis that has been laid by the great leader" -- seen as an indication that Turkmenistan does not plan a pluralistic election.
Turkmenistan has only one legal political party -- the Turkmenistan Democratic Party -- and opposition is tightly suppressed. Opposition leaders living abroad have said they intend to return to Turkmenistan in the wake of Niyazov's death, but have not succeeded.
Under the Constitution, the People's Council -- which consists of 2,500 deputies, some of whom were elected and others appointed -- must set an election date within two months of the president's death.
However, the body also has the authority to change the Constitution.
Questions about how closely the constitutional procedures would be followed arose within hours of the announcement of Niyazov's death. The Constitution says the legislative speaker should become acting president, but the role was taken by Berdymukhamedov, the deputy prime minister, and a criminal case was opened against the legislative speaker.
Berdymukhamedov's rise to acting president sparked speculation of an internal power struggle and that elections could be postponed until autumn.
Former Foreign Minister Avdy Kuliyev, now living in Norway, told reporters that the People's Council was likely to endorse Berdymukhamedov as a presidential candidate or even appoint him as president without holding an election.
"Everything indicates that," Kuliyev said. "There has long been talk that Berdymukhamedov was being groomed by Niyazov as a successor. Niyazov protected him, didn't touch him."
The Constitution says the acting president is not allowed to run for office.
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