Parliamentary 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 15 December 2013. Although they were the first multi-party elections in the country's history, both contesting parties claimed loyalty to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. The ruling

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 ...

emerged as the largest faction in the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

with 47 of the 125 seats, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence. The elections were criticized by the OSCE,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, and opposition groups such as the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights. Farid Tukhbatulin of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights said that there was little difference between the two major parties, arguing that neither truly represented opposition groups.

Background

A new law on political parties was adopted in January 2012, with the government claiming it would make it easier for new parties to be formed to challenge the ruling Democratic Party. Subsequently, the

Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs The Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň Senagatçylar we Telekeçiler partiýasy) is a political party in Turkmenistan. The party originated in August 2012 as first legal opposition party in the countr ...

was established in August 2012.

Campaign

A total of 283 candidates registered to contest the 125 seats in the Assembly. The Democratic Party put forward 99 candidates, the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs nominated 28 candidates, whilst a further 163 were fielded by groups including a women's union, trade unions and a youth union.FACTBOX-Parties and candidates in Turkmenistan's parliamentary election
Reuters, 13 December 2013

Results

References

2013 in Turkmenistan Elections in Turkmenistan

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results {{Asia-election-stub