More Talk of Pluralism in Turkmenistan

A month before a presidential election whose result is seen as a foregone conclusion, Turkmenistan’s leader Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov has signed off on a law that in theory will allow new political parties to emerge.

Berdymuhammedov, who is almost certain to win the February 12 ballot, first floated the idea of a multiparty parliament a year ago, and finally signed off on the legislation on January 12.

At the moment, the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan – the old Communist Party renamed after the country became independent in 1991 – is the only legal political party. It is headed by the president and all senior officials are members.

Comments by Berdymuhammedov in February 2011, in which he said new parties could have opposition views and still be granted legal registration, generated some cautious optimism. One woman said the issue was the subject of lively but strictly private discussions. Even critics of the regime began to believe that change might come in small, incremental steps.

Many people believed that the authorities would sanction the formation of interest-based parties representing farmers and women.

“It clearly didn’t work out, for some reason,” she added.

A social affairs expert in the capital Ashgabat said he had heard many people saying they would like to set up political movements, despite their fear of reprisals.

If the authorities had allowed parties to emerge, the forthcoming election could have been taken more seriously, he said. “Change is inevitable,” he added.

The current law on presidential elections, dating from June 2011, does allow political parties to nominate candidates. It is obviously too late for that now, and the 14 candidates standing against Berdymuhammedov were hand-picked in a carefully orchestrated selection process.

In July 2011, Berdymuhammedov even invited the current opposition-in-exile to come back and take part in elections.

Nurmuhammed Khanamov, head of the Republican Party, based in Austria, even considered trying to field candidates, but that proved fruitless. 

Despite the obstacles, Khanamov said, “Our party supporters inside the country are trying to do things Others are trying to set up and register parties, in the face of regime pressure.”

Tajigul Begmedova, head of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Bulgaria, said she doubted the authorities had any intention of moving away from one-party rule.

“No one is going to implement this new law,” Begmedova said. “Ashgabat is trying to make the best of a bad job by passing this law after criticism that there was no legislation allowing a multi-party system.”

This article was produced as part of IWPR's News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.