DUSHANBE, November 14, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan’s Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) has received invitation to observe parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan, Muhibullo Dodojonov, an official with the CCER, told Asia-Plus on Friday.
“Tajikistan’s representative will participate in monitoring the parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan but we have not yet defined candidates to observe the lections,” the CCER official said.
Parliamentary elections to the Turkmen parliament, Mejlis, will be held on December 14, 2008. The number of MPs was increased to 125 (while the People”s Assembly was abolished) in constitutional reforms enacted on September 26, 2008.
According to some media, it is the first election since Turkmen independence in which, theoretically, parties other than the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan are allowed to take part since the new constitution does not define Turkmenistan as a single-party state any longer, however no legal opposition parties have been set up (as of early November) and the fact that the election takes place in single-seat constituencies would greatly diminish the opposition”s chance of gaining parliamentary representation.
