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By Bill Gasperini
Moscow
26 December 2006
Turkmenistan's top legislative1 body says a presidential election will be held on February 11 to select a successor to longtime authoritarian2 leader Saparmurat Niyazov, who died last week. The People's Council will also select candidates for the election, amid opposition3 protests. Bill Gasperini has more for VOA from Moscow.
The date was decided4 during an extraordinary gathering5 of the People's Council, which is made up of 2,500 members including tribal6 and clan7 leaders from around the former Soviet8 republic.
Turkmenistan Deputy Prime Minister Gurbangaly Berdymukhamedov (24 Dec 2006) |
The 66-year-old former Communist boss died last week of a heart attack after ruling the mostly desert nation for over 20 years.
The eccentric leader established an extraordinary personality cult10 around himself and ruthlessly suppressed an opposition.
And there was little sign during Tuesday's council meeting that much had changed.
Turkmen opposition figures who have long lived in exile say they intend to return and want to field their own candidate.
However none has been able to cross the border into Turkmenistan so far.
Turkmenistan has only one legal political party and Acting President Berdymukhamedov is seen as likely to win the February vote.
He has long served as deputy prime minister. But within hours of Mr. Niyazov's death, Mr. Berdymukhamedov announced he would become acting president even though the constitution states the parliament speaker should do that.
Instead, the parliament speaker has had a criminal case opened against him, giving rise to speculation11 of an internal power struggle in the isolated12 nation of five million.
Dzhmurad Kyamov, who works with the Organization for Human Rights of the Turkmen People, says change can only come if outside powers such as the United States, European nations or even Russia put pressure on the current leadership.
The stakes are high given that Turkmenistan has vast reserves of oil and especially natural gas.
The country also has a strategic position in Central Asia, sharing borders both with Iran and Afghanistan.
1 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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2 authoritarian | |
n./adj.专制(的),专制主义者,独裁主义者 | |
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3 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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4 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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5 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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6 tribal | |
adj.部族的,种族的 | |
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7 clan | |
n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派 | |
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8 Soviet | |
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃 | |
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9 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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10 cult | |
n.异教,邪教;时尚,狂热的崇拜 | |
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11 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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12 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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