Turkmenistan defends election as democratic

Turkmenistan on Monday insisted that weekend parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic ruled by hard-line President Saparmurat Niyazov had met democratic norms. Sunday's election to the 50-seat parliament or mejilis "occurred on a wholly democratic basis with equal opportunities for all candidates (and) in accordance with the country's legislation and international norms," the election commission said in a written statement.
The statement followed reports of more or less blatant pressure put on residents in order to increase turnout at the election, at which Niyazov's Democratic Party was the only registered party.
There was also confusion as to the number of people who voted as the commission put turnout at 76.88 percent, or "approximately three million people," after earlier telling AFP that less than 2.5 million people were eligible to vote.
The population of this large but sparsely peopled country is estimated at 6.5 million by the Turkmen authorities, and closer to five million by foreign observers including the US State Department.
The day was hailed as a success by the state-controlled Neitralny Turkmenistan newspaper.
"Voters didn't hurry to leave the polling stations as in many places artists gave performances and sang songs in honour of the motherland, our great leader and the Rukhnama" - a "spiritual guide" penned by Niyazov, the newspaper said.
Niyazov, 64, permits no dissent and has been increasingly criticised by the West, particularly for a crackdown that followed an alleged coup attempt in 2002.
The Turkmen leader, who has clung to power since Soviet times, was officially named Turkmenbashi (father-of-all-Turkmen) in 1999 and has built a personality cult around himself and his deceased parents.
No foreign observers were invited to the election, including from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of which Turkmenistan is a member, or from Russia - often a cheerleader for elections in former Soviet states.
Voter turnout at the last such election in 1999 was officially said to have been 98.9 percent.
Results of the election will be published after 10 days, the election commission said on Monday.