ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN — Voters in Turkmenistan cast ballots today in a parliamentary election hailed by the government as an exercise in democracy but dismissed by critics as a sham.
It was the first parliamentary election since the death of longtime autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov two years ago, which kindled hopes the Central Asian country would introduce greater freedoms.
The government of his successor, President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, has cast the election as an important step in the development of democracy, but opponents claim it is meant to appease Western countries eager to win access to its natural-gas reserves but wary of its record on human rights.
A statement on the government Web site said the vote was held in “an atmosphere of openness” and reflected “the full depth of the democratic reforms being conducted in the nation.” While all 125 parliament seats up for grabs in today’s election were contested — unlike previous elections, in which many candidates ran unopposed — only one political party is legally registered in Turkmenistan. Government opponents have no foothold in politics.
The overwhelming majority of the 288 candidates represent the pro-presidential Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, with the rest drawn mainly from state-approved civic groups. All appear to have run on a platform of support for Berdymukhamedov.
“Since all the cards were pro-government, regardless of whom people voted for it, will be the authorities who win,” Tadzhigul Begmedova, director of the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, said by telephone from Bulgaria.
“These scripted elections prove only that there will be another round of dictatorship,” she said.
The vote follows reforms that nearby doubled the number of seats in Parliament and increased its powers, abolishing the rubber-stamp People’s Council — a 2,507-member assembly of presidential appointees, town elders and others that was formerly Turkmenistan’s highest legislative body.
Although there was little campaigning and minimal campaign coverage on state-run television, the official turnout figure — just under 94 percent of the 2.8 million eligible voters — was high. Voting usually has been encouraged by the state.
“People have come here to vote with great enthusiasm — this is a feast for us,” said Valentina Rejepova, chairwoman of a polling station in the capital, Ashgabat. But at another central Ashgabat polling place, only a trickle of voters cast ballots in the afternoon.
Begmedova said accounts from contacts in Turkmenistan indicated a low level of interest in the vote.
Election workers organized Turkmen folk music concerts at several polling stations to create a festive spirit, but even some local officials suggested the choice of candidates was limited.
“In our district, all the candidates are all practically the same … they are all teachers,” said Orazgeldy Dzhumageldyev, chairman of a polling station in Gyami, a hamlet outside Ashgabat.
“I can’t really say whether any one of them is worse or better than the others.” Maksat Meredov, a student at Turkmen Agricultural University, said he was optimistic.
“I only expect good things from this election,” Meredov said.
“We are moving forward.” Niyazov ruled Turkmenistan with a firm grip for almost two decades, isolating the country and forging a bizarre personality cult.
The United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sent small contingents to assess the conduct of Sunday’s vote.
