Turkmenistan awaits first 'free' elections

Some experts speculate that real power is in the hands of the chief of Niyazov's palace guard, Akmurad Rejepov, a shadowy former Soviet KGB official. Under the Constitution, the speaker of parliament, Ovezgeldy Atayev, should have become acting leader after Niyazov's demise. Instead, Mr. Atayev found himself in prison facing an unspecified "criminal investigation."

The Halk Maslahaty (Peoples' Council), a megaparliament of 3,000 members that met once a year under Niyazev, was hastily summoned to appoint Berdymukhammedov as acting president. It also approved the six candidates for the presidency – all of whom were required to swear allegiance to Niyazov's political policies.

Exiled opposition politicians who have tried to enter Turkmenistan have been turned away at the border. Few foreign journalists have been granted visas to cover the polls, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which normally fields election observers, has decided to sit this one out due to "time constraints" on forming a delegation.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe, the chair of the European Union's interparliamentary mission to Turkmenistan, Albert Jan Maat, said that "these elections [are] only with candidates from the former government – you can't call them real elections – and that is not a start for a more open society."

Nevertheless, experts say it's reasonable to hope that the harsh repression and wild extravagance that marked the Turkmenbashi's rule may ease. Niyazov jailed thousands of opponents, expelled ethnic Russians, and jammed news broadcasts from Moscow. He slashed social services, abolished old age pensions, and ordered the number of school years for children reduced. He banned ballet and opera as "alien," and forbade men to wear beards or teenagers to play video games.

At the same time, he squandered the country's export earnings from gas and cotton on lavish monuments to himself and his deceased mother, and renamed the months of the year after himself, his mother, and various relatives. A year ago, fearful of palace plots, Niyazov ordered all doctors to swear a personal oath to himself instead of the Hippocratic Oath.

"Everything is known in advance. Berdymukhammedov will win," exiled Turkmen journalist Bytyr Mukhammedov told the Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets. The front-runner has been quoted by the official Turkmen press as pledging to boost social services, restore pensions, privatize some industries, permit people to build their own homes, restore transport links with Russia, and even allow citizens to access the Internet. "Changes are already being implemented, and I think the new regime will evolve slowly toward civilization," said Mr. Mukhammedov.

Page: 1 | 2