Early presidential elections were held in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
on 12 March 2022. The elections were called after incumbent president
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022.
A dentist by profes ...
announced his intention to resign.
The
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, which has ruled the country since independence after the dissolution of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, chose Berdimuhamedow's son
Serdar Serdar may refer to
* Serdar (given name)
* Serdar (surname)
* SERDAR, a stabilized remote-controlled Ukrainian weapon station
* Serdar (city) in Turkmenistan, the capital of Serdar District
* Serdar (Ottoman rank), a military and noble rank of t ...
as its candidate. Serdar Berdimuhamedow was subsequently elected with 73% of the vote. However, the elections were seen by many international observers as
neither free nor fair.
Background
No prior elections in Turkmenistan have been free and fair and the 2022 elections took place in an authoritarian context. The country has been described as a
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
under the rule of
Saparmurat Niyazov
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who rule ...
and
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022.
A dentist by profes ...
. The
Democratic Party of Turkmenistan
)
, colours = Green Gold
, seats1_title = Seats in the Assembly of Turkmenistan
, seats1 =
, colors = Green Gold
, website tdp.gov.tm
The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň Demokratik Partiýasy; ; TDP) has been the ...
is seen as the only legitimate force, with other parties having been founded after 2012 in order to give the appearance of a multi-party system. All legal parties currently support the government.
In 2012, the constitution was amended to extend the term of presidents from five to seven years and to eliminate the age-limit of 70. This was seen as an effort to allow the incumbent Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow to stay in office. Despite this, he signaled his resignation just five years into his seven-year term. On 12 February 2022, the
Mejlis
( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...
passed a resolution scheduling the election for 12 March in accordance with article 81 of the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
. The son of the former president,
Serdar Berdimuhamedow
Serdar Gurbangulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow, (born 22 September 1981) is the third and current president of Turkmenistan, serving since 19 March 2022. Berdimuhamedow had previously served in several other positions within the government of his fat ...
, was widely seen as the successor to his father.
Electoral system
The
President of Turkmenistan
The president of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň prezidenti), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme c ...
is elected using the
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
for a seven-year term. The minimum age for a candidate is 40.
Candidates
Campaign
The campaign stage began on 21 February. In accordance with Article 51 of the Electoral Code of Turkmenistan, candidates from the moment of their registration have equal rights to speak at pre-election meetings, campaign meetings, and in the media. Bodies of state power and local self-government, officials of institutions, organizations and enterprises are obligated to assist candidates in obtaining the necessary information related to elections.
According to Article 52 of the Electoral Code of Turkmenistan, each candidate for the President of Turkmenistan can have up to three proxies in each
etrap and each city with the rights of an etrap.
Candidate meetings throughout the territory of Turkmenistan are held with broad participation of the public, representatives of labor collectives of enterprises and organizations, honorary elders and youth.
Conduct
On 28 February 2022, an observer mission from the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(CIS) arrived in Turkmenistan. Early voting began on 2 March, where a total of 41 polling stations were opened in 30 countries. Turnout to the election was reported at 97%, according to the Central Election Committee.
Results
The Central Election Committee reported on 15 March that Serdar Berdimuhamedow won the election with 72.97% of the vote. University official Hydyr Nunnaýew came in second place with 11.09%. Unlike in prior elections, the preliminary results were not available on the day after the election. Berdimuhamedow received the lowest amount of votes out of any winning candidate in all Turkmen presidential elections.
Reactions
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
sent a message of congratulations to Serdar Berdimuhamedow after the results were announced.
Russian President
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
reportedly extended his congratulations in a phone call with both Gurbanguly and Serdar Berdimuhamedow. The
Organization of Turkic States
The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzs ...
congratulated him via
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
References
{{Turkmenistani elections
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
Presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
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Chile
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Presidential elections in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...