Presidential election in Turkmenistan 2007
The 2007 presidential election in Turkmenistan was held on February 11, 2007 and was the second election for the highest political office in the history of Turkmenistan after the 1992 Turkmenistan presidential election. The election was made necessary by the death of long-time president Saparmyrat Nyýazow .
Electoral system
According to the Turkmen Constitution, the president is directly elected by the people for five years. This regulation was overturned by the former President Nyýazow , who had his term of office extended to ten years by means of a referendum and was then elected President for life by Parliament in 1999. During the Nyýazow era, constitutional amendments and decrees steadily increased the power of the president, so that the president has unlimited power in Turkmenistan to this day.
background
Nyýazow and his Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT) controlled the country after Turkmenistan's independence in the course of the collapse of the Soviet Union . In 1992 Nyýazow was elected president with 99.8% of the votes cast, according to official information. In the absence of any opposition , the DPT also won all 50 seats in the Assembly of Turkmenistan in the parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan in 1994 and in the parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan in 1999 , so that Niyazov's course was unconditionally supported by parliament. In this situation, the death of Nyýazow on December 21, 2006 represented a deep turning point in the history of Turkmenistan and raised the question of the successor to the omnipresent president, who was also at the center of an escalating personality cult . Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was Vice Prime Minister and personal physician to the President before the President's death . From this position he was elected by parliament as interim president, elections for the office of president were scheduled for February 11th. Berdimuhamedov was only able to stand for election by amending the constitution, as the Turkmen constitution previously did not allow a transitional president to stand for a presidential election.
Candidates
Six candidates ran for the office of President, all of whom belonged to the DPT. The 2007 presidential election was the first in the history of Turkmenistan in which more than one candidate ran for the office of president. A participation of opposition politicians in the election was not made possible even after the Niyazov era. To this end, a law was passed before the election that excluded candidates who have not lived permanently in Turkmenistan for the past 15 years. This law made it impossible for politicians from the exiled opposition to stand. After Berdimuhamedov presented himself as a new, strong man in Turkmen politics after the president's death, he was considered a favorite for the next election. His competitors had hardly appeared in public so far and were therefore considered largely without a chance.
| candidate | Political party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | Vice Prime Minister and then Interim President |
| Amanyaz Atadzhykov | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | Member of Parliament and Deputy Governor of Daşoguz welaýaty |
| Ishanguly Nuryev | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | Deputy Minister for the Petroleum Industry and Natural Resources |
| Mukhammetnazar Gurbanov | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | District manager in Karabekaul, Lebap welaýaty |
| Orazmyrad Garadzhayev | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | Mayor of Abadan |
| Ashirniyaz Pomanov | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan | Governor of the city of Türkmenbaşy |
Election campaign
A controversial election campaign did not take place due to the content of the candidates agreeing. The election commission played a central role in the election campaign. It organized campaign events for all candidates nationwide, at which they could present themselves to the voters. In addition, numerous, standardized election posters were printed and posted, which provided information on the candidates' résumés. With regard to the media, all candidates were allowed airtime on television and advertisements in newspapers, but Berdimuhamedov had a massive advantage in terms of notoriety and popularity through his constant presence in the media. Berdimuhamedov promised to improve Internet access in Turkmenistan, reform the education system and support entrepreneurs when he started his election campaign in front of 1,000 spectators in a speech in Ashgabat . In addition to these substantive reforms, he announced that he would like to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.
Result
The outcome of the election corresponded to the forecasts of the observers, as Berdimuhamedov was able to win the election by a clear margin. The voter turnout was officially given as 99%.
| candidate | votes received absolutely | Share of votes cast |
|---|---|---|
| Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow | 2,357,120 | 89.18% |
| Amanyaz Atadzhykov | 85.016 | 3.22% |
| Ishanguly Nuryev | 62,830 | 2.38% |
| Mukhammetnazar Gurbanov | 62,672 | 2.37% |
| Orazmyrad Garadzhayev | 40,821 | 1.54% |
| Ashirniyaz Pomanov | 34,733 | 1.31% |
On February 14, 2007, Berdimuhamedov was sworn in as the new president in a large-scale ceremony in the presence of several heads of state.
rating
Like all elections in Turkmenistan's history, the election was deemed neither free nor fair. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent a needs assessment mission ahead of the election, which in January 2007 observed the preparations for the election. OSCE observers criticized the exclusion of the opposition from the election and the ban on any opposition parties. They also denounced the lack of pluralism and political competition in the run-up to the election. On election day itself, there were no foreign observers to monitor the election. The United Democratic Opposition of Turkmenistan, the umbrella organization of the opposition in exile, did not recognize the election and described it as illegal and undemocratic. The International Crisis Group said after the election of electoral fraud and called on the international community to press ahead with a respect for human rights to work in Turkmenistan. The frequently voiced allegation of election fraud was also supported by a statement from the chairman of the electoral commission, who announced that he would do everything possible to ensure that Berdimuhamedov won because he was a worthy candidate.
Individual evidence
- ↑ IFES Election Guide | Elections: Turkmenistan Pres 11 Feb 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2020 .
- ^ Polls Closed In Turkmenistan. Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Turkmen candidate pledges reforms . January 4, 2007 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ↑ IFES Election Guide | Elections: Turkmenistan Pres 11 Feb 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2020 .
- ^ New Turkmen President Sworn In. Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Election | Vote deemed neither free nor fair. Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
- ↑ OSCE (ed.): TURKMENISTAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 11 February 2007 OSCE / ODIHR NEEDS ASSESSMENT MISSION REPORT . Warsaw 2007.
- ↑ FAQ | Explaining this election. Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
