Early presidential election in Turkmenistan

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 12 Feb 2022 by Alex Teddy
On February 12 the Turkmen government said that an early presidential election shall be held on March 12, 2022. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has ruled the country for 15 years. The 64-year-old has dropped hints that he might retire early from his post. In 2019 he had some health scares.The next election was due to be in 2024. Why is it being brought forward? The President said the country needs young leadership. But there might be other reasons. The country is suffering from inflation, and prices for staple foods have shot up. Popular discontent is so widespread and severe that it might not be easy for the security forces to contain public rage. Better to run a stage-managed election now before the situation is even more dangerous. The Turkmen government was given a fright by the sudden outbreak of widespread disorder in Kazakhstan in January 2021. The President's 40-year-old son Serdar is universally tipped to be his successor. The state has ensured that no one else has a public stature even remotely approaching that of the president and his son. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov says he wants to stay as chair of Parliament's upper house. He has not said he shall remain president. Being chair of the upper house might be his retirement. He is commonly called "Arkadag" (Protector) a title he shall likely retain if he steps down from the presidency. Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan had himself made Leader of the Nation - a lifetime position - when he left the presidency. But Nazarbayev has been stripped of all power but his title. By handing power over to his son, Berdymukhammedov may hope to avoid such a fate.

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