Ruling Party Wins Turkmen Polls, New Party Takes Seats

Turkmenistan's ruling party secured the most number of seats in legislative elections while a new party set up to diversify politics in the ultra-controlled state won its first-ever mandates, official results said Thursday.

Sunday's elections were marked by a total lack of any opposition to the dominance of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov over the gas-rich Central Asian state, despite being billed as the first multi-party polls in its history.

For the first time the elections included a party other than the ruling Democratic Party -- the Party of Industrialists and Businessmen of Turkmenistan which was founded in August 2012.

The Democratic Party took 47 of the 125 seats up for grabs in the Majlis parliament, while the Party of Industrialists took 14 seats, state newspapers and television announced Thursday. Voter turnout was a colossal 91.33 percent.

The other seats in the parliament went to representatives of trade unions, women's groups, young people's organizations and religious groups who are all staunchly pro-government.

When the new party was founded, Berdymukhamedov stepped down as head of the Democratic Party renouncing his membership in a bid to put himself above party politics and let some kind of political system develop.

But critics have noted that the Party of Industrialists has yet to express the slightest criticism of the president and Turkmenistan has nothing even resembling a democratic multi-party system.

Berdymukhamedov has made stabs at political and economic reform in recent years but Turkmenistan remains one of the most isolated nations in the world despite being courted by both China and the West for its vast energy reserves.

He took over Turkmenistan after the death in 2006 of former dictator Saparmurat Niyazov whose sometimes bizarre rule led to isolation.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for the first time deployed an assessment mission for the elections.

But it did not deploy a full-scale observation mission due to the lack of choice in the elections and "the absence of a functioning opposition."

Turkmen state media however trumpeted the election results as fully in line with democratic norms.

"We can confirm that the elections went ahead on a fully democratic basis, becoming an important chapter in the new history of our country," commented state daily Neutral Turkmenistan.

"The elections were marked by a high level of civic activity in Turkmen society," it added.

The composition of the new Majlis appears to be more diverse than the last. The 2008 legislative elections saw the Democratic Party take a majority of seats, although officials curiously never released the official breakdown of seats.

Berdymukhamedov won a new presidential term in February 2012 polls with 97 percent of the popular vote and is known in Turkmenistan as the "Arkadag" or "Protector".

Almost all opposition groups are based abroad, and their leaders fear arrest if they return to Turkmenistan.

An incident in May this year where the president fell from his horse at the end of a race went unreported in Turkmenistan despite garnering huge attention abroad.