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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan residents voted Saturday in an election that might mark the start of a political dynasty for the gas-rich Central Asian nation’s sitting president.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, 64, introduced the vote final month, setting stage for his 40-year outdated son Serdar to take over. Preliminary outcomes are anticipated Sunday, however few doubt that the president’s son will win by landslide.
Serdar Berdymukhamedov has risen by means of a sequence of more and more distinguished authorities posts and most lately has served because the nation’s deputy prime minister, answering on to his father.
He’s dealing with what seems to be token competitors from eight different nominal contenders in Saturday’s vote, together with a deputy regional governor and a lawmaker.
“My essential purpose is to proceed on the fantastic path of growth constructed throughout 30 years of independence and to efficiently implement packages aimed to make sure a excessive stage of social circumstances for the folks,” Serdar Berdymukhamedov mentioned whereas presenting his platform in televised speech.
Chatting with reporters after casting his poll, he vowed to proceed the nation’s impartial international coverage if elected.
No election in post-Soviet Turkmenistan has been thought of genuinely aggressive. Whereas eight candidates ran towards Berdymukhamedov within the final election in 2017, all expressed assist for his authorities and Berdymukhamedov garnered greater than 97% of the vote.
Berdymukhamedov got here to energy in 2006 after the demise of the eccentric Saparmurat Niyazov and established a pervasive persona cult just like that of his predecessor. Beneath his rule, the nation has remained troublesome for outsiders to enter. Turkmenistan has not reported any instances of an infection within the coronavirus pandemic.
It additionally has struggled to diversify its economic system, which is overwhelmingly depending on its huge pure gasoline reserves. China has changed Russia as the highest export vacation spot for Turkmen gasoline, whereas Russian demand is predicted to shrink additional amid tensions with the West over Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.
Berdymukhamedov has cultivated a picture of sturdy well being with media stunts that included firing a pistol at a man-sized goal whereas using a bicycle and hoisting a gold weightlifting bar, to the applause of his Cupboard. He’s titled Arkadag, or Protector.
On a go to to a polling station along with his wheelchair-bound, 85 year-old mom, the Turkmen president hailed the vote as “historic.”
When Berdymukhamedov introduced the vote final month, he mentioned that the nation needs to be run by youthful folks. His son has lately turned 40, the minimal age for president in keeping with the Turkmen regulation.
In the course of the marketing campaign, all candidates praised Berdymukhamedov, who mentioned he’ll retain the submit of the top of the nation’s higher home of parliament.
Turnout was heavy, with over 90% of voters casting their ballots hours earlier than polls closed.
People dancers and singers carried out as loud music blared from loudspeakers at polling stations. Engulfing the stations the place fumes from burning harmala, a plant extensively utilized in Turkmenistan to fumigate properties and public areas to assist forestall the unfold of infectious ailments.
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