ASHGABAT - The people of Turkmenistan voted Sunday to elect a successor to their late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, with the gas-rich Central Asian republicÂ’s interim leader seen as guaranteed of victory. It was TurkmenistanÂ’s first multi-candidate presidential poll, but acting president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov appeared certain to win.| Oh, I am so surprised. |
| Not quite safe to return home, is it? |
A longtime Niyazov loyalist, Berdymukhammedov has recently called for reforms, including an eventual end to the one-party system and allowing widespread Internet access. He has also vowed to provide greater economic opportunity. That message has gone down well with ordinary Turkmens.
A turnout of 85 percent was recorded with four hours of voting to go, easily passing the 50-percent minimum needed to make the poll valid, the Central Electoral Commission said.
This was the countryÂ’s first election in which a team from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was invited, although not as official observers. The OSCE is a pan-European human rights body.