Ashgabat: Turkmenistan votes on Sunday in a one-sided election certain to extend the rule of President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov over a Central Asian country holding 4 percent of global gas reserves, which rights groups rank among the world`s most repressive.
Berdymukhamedov, a 54-year-old qualified dentist, is also Prime Minister, commander of the armed forces and chairman of the only political party in Turkmenistan. His word is final in the former Soviet republic, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Few citizens recognise anyone on the ballot paper other than the President, whose portrait - smiling and dressed in business suit and tie - can be found in parks, streets, offices and hotel lobbies across the desert nation of 5.5 million people.
Berdymukhamedov`s seven token challengers, including government ministers and the director of a state-run textile factory, have lauded the President in the run-up to the vote.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has not sent observers, after deciding during a pre-vote mission to the country in December that its presence would not "add value" given limited freedoms and lack of political competition.
Russian television channels, picked up by satellite dishes that crowd the roofs of Soviet-era apartment blocks in Ashgabat and other cities, are a rare connection with the outside world in a country where Facebook and YouTube are blocked.
After winning the last Presidential Election in February 2007, Berdymukhamedov began gradually to dismantle the often bizarre cult of personality around Saparmurat Niyazov, the country`s first post-Soviet leader, who died of a heart attack.
He has restored the traditional names of the months, which had been altered by Niyazov to honour national symbols. For several years, January had shared Niyazov`s adopted name of Turkmenbashi - Head of All Turkmen.
The patron
Keen to diversify gas sales and attract investment, Berdymukhamedov has engaged foreign governments and promised economic reforms while avoiding the more eccentric traits of his predecessor, who banned opera, circus and gold teeth.
Some analysts say the elections are being choreographed to present an image of democracy to the West, where energy companies are vying for a share of the world`s fourth-largest natural gas reserves, along with oilfields in the Caspian Sea.
China is in pole position to snap up these resources, having lent more than USD 8 billion to help Turkmenistan develop its energy sector and built a 2,000-km (1,250-mile) pipeline to its border, while talks on a trans-Caspian route to Europe drag on.
Though his absolutist tendencies pale next to those of his predecessor, Berdymukhamedov is becoming more ubiquitous. His subjects call him Arkadag: The Patron. Lawmakers have bestowed upon him the title "Hero of Turkmenistan”.
International rights groups also say there is little evidence that Turkmenistan is improving its human rights record.
Amnesty International, in a statement two days before the election, said it was concerned about torture and ill-treatment in Turkmen prisons, as well as "severe restrictions" on freedom of movement and expression, political activism and faith.
"Turkmenistan remains closed to international scrutiny by choice," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International`s Europe and Central Asia deputy program director. The organisation said its repeated requests to visit the country had gone unanswered.
Only North Korea and Eritrea ranked lower in the 179-country press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. Human Rights Watch said in its latest annual report that media and religious freedoms were subject to "draconian restrictions”.
Turkmenistan has 2.9 million registered voters, slightly more than half of the total population. Berdymukhamedov won 89 percent of the vote in the last Presidential Election.
Bureau Report
