Turkmenistan - 2018 Elections
Turkmenistan's parliamentary elections have been a farce from the start. It makes little difference who wins seats, since Turkmenistan's parliament is a rubber-stamp body for the country's president. These parliamentary elections were not held in December, as all the previous five parliamentary elections have been (1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, and 2013). No reason was given for the change; but with Turkmenistan facing the worst economic crisis in its 26-year history, there might be a desire to get the elections over before major changes -- possibly a long-overdue currency devaluation, for example -- were implemented.
The law makes it extremely difficult for genuinely independent political parties to organize, nominate candidates, and campaign, since it grants the Ministry of Justice broad powers over the registration process and the authority to monitor party meetings. The law prohibits political parties based on religion, region, or profession as well as parties that “offend moral norms.” The law does not explain how a party may appeal its closure by the government. The law permits public associations and organizations to put forth candidates for elected office.
Neither organized opposition nor independent political groups operated in the country. The three registered political parties were the ruling Democratic Party (the former Communist Party), the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and the Agrarian Party. The government did not officially prohibit membership in other political organizations, but there were no reports of persons who claimed membership in political organizations other than these three parties and a smattering of representatives of individual initiative groups. Authorities did not allow opposition movements based abroad–including the Republican Party of Turkmenistan–to operate within the country.
Election campaigns in Turkmenistan started 04 December 2017. Formation of election commissions started in Turkmenistan within the preparation for the March 25, 2018 election of candidates running for seats in parliament and local governing bodies, the country’s Central Election Commission said in a message Dec. 27.
As many as 240 electoral districts (40 in each province and Ashgabat city) have been created for the election of MPs in Turkmenistan. For the election of members of the district and city councils, a total of 1,260 electoral districts (20 in each district and city) have been created in Turkmenistan. Political parties, public organizations, as well as initiative groups of citizens organize meetings to nominate their representatives, mainly specialists of various sectors of the national economy, to be included in the election commissions, the message said.
Turkmenistan's Central Election Commission registered 284 candidates to compete for the 125 seats in Turkmenistan's Mejlis (parliament). Most of the candidates are from the three registered political parties -- the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT, formerly the Communist Party); the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, founded in 2012; and, making its first appearance in parliamentary elections, the Agrarian Party, founded in 2014 -- although public initiative groups are fielding a small number of candidates.
The latter two parties were arguably formed to create the illusion of multiparty elections. Both parties support President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's policies. Neither has proposed any initiatives and, in fact, the two parties are rarely mentioned at all in state media except at election time. The same is true of the DPT.
Serdar Berdymukhammedov, President Berdymukhammedov's only son age 36, is already a member of Turkmenistan's parliament. He won a seat in snap elections on November 20, 2016. According to Turkmenistan's constitution, the speaker of the parliament is the second-highest post in the government, the person who takes over as president if the serving president is unable to perform the duties of office.
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