President re-elected with 98 percent of vote

Turkmenistan’s ruling leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov bagged a fresh seven-year term with nearly 98 percent of a weakly contested vote, electoral officials following a preliminary count said. The election commission claimed at a news conference on Monday, in the capital Ashgabat, a turnout of more than 97 percent for the poll, in which eight other candidates, […]

Turkmenistan’s ruling leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov bagged a fresh seven-year term with nearly 98 percent of a weakly contested vote, electoral officials following a preliminary count said.

The election commission claimed at a news conference on Monday, in the capital Ashgabat, a turnout of more than 97 percent for the poll, in which eight other candidates, viewed as token opponents for Berdymukhamedov, also competed.

Casting his vote at a school in Ashgabat on Sunday, the president said the vote would decide “the fate of the people for the coming seven years.

“If I am elected, then our policies aimed at improving the welfare of the people will continue,” Berdymukhamedov said.

The former dentist and health minister took power in 2006 after the death of Turkmenistan’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov.