VZCZCXRO7975
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1298/01 3321435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281435Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9796
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3051
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0866
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0740
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1316
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1955
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001298 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ELECTION OFFICIALS CONFIDENT IN 
THEIR PROCESS, BUT PROCESS STILL ARCANE 
 
REF: ASHGABAT 1274 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Poloffs met November 27 with Myrat 
Garryev, longtime chairman of the National Central Election 
Commission, and Shirin Akhmedova, the Director of the 
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, to assess the 
status of preparations for the December 9 provincial People's 
Council elections, and identify areas where the election 
process is changing.  Akhmedova indicated that the Institute 
wants to ensure that more Central Election Commission members 
at all governmental levels receive more training in advance 
of the more significant Mejlis elections scheduled for 
December 2008 in order to bring Turkmen election officials 
closer to international election standards.  She admitted 
that Turkmenistan's election law is in need of reform, but 
added that the current law should be evaluated in action 
before making changes.  The Institute, however, intends to 
work with experts from ABA/CEELI, USAID, ICNL and others to 
assess areas of reform and develop a plan to do so.  Although 
both officials offered strong statements indicating that 
democracy is thriving in Turkmenistan, the conduct of 
elections -- especially this early in President 
Berdimuhamedov's term -- is not likely to be different from 
those conducted under Niyazov.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Poloffs met with Central Election Commission 
Chairman Myrat Garryev on November 27 at the Central Election 
Commission's headquarters.  Garryev, a boisterous, 
white-haired Brezhnev look-alike, had also invited most of 
the rest of the commission to witness the discussion with US 
diplomats.  It was difficult to believe that this flirtatious 
old man had once been one of Niyazov's most important 
sycophants, and is credited with being one of two men (the 
other being Turkmenistan Democratic Party Chair Musayev) who 
had proposed that President Niyazov be declared "President 
for Life." Garryev stated, without a smile on his face, that 
the provincial elections on December 9 would be an example of 
"democracy on the highest level," since democracy had been 
developed by the Turkmen people 5,000 years ago when they 
elected Oguz Khan their tribal leader. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  After a review of the applicable electoral 
legislation (reftel), Garryev answered questions about what 
has -- and has not -- changed about the balloting process. 
He noted that there is a big focus on assuring that every 
single registered voter in each precinct has voted.  New 
voters who have turned 18 are given gifts and flowers upon 
arrival to a polling site (a practice not uncommon in other 
parts of the FSU).  The oldest voters are driven to the 
polls, and mobile ballot boxes are brought to invalids who 
are incapable of going to the polling site.  The day is 
treated like a holiday, and nearly every polling site will 
still have music, dancing girls, and possibly even food to 
make the day festive.  Garryev declared with confidence that, 
with these incentives, more than 60 percent of registered 
voters will have voted by 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Ballots will have the names of two to four 
candidates listed, and voters will be required to cross out 
all but one name -- their chosen candidate.  If a ballot is 
received that has had all names crossed out, it is still a 
legitimately cast ballot (but it is unclear if these are 
counted).  Garryev claimed to have never seen a ballot that 
showed the voter did not want to choose any of the possible 
candidates.  Domestic election observers, recently trained on 
international monitoring standards by the OSCE Center in 
Ashgabat, will be participating in the actual vote counting 
at the precinct level. (NOTE: Of the 100 Turkmen citizens the 
OSCE trained for election monitoring, 10 were from the 
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, and the remaining 
190 were from associations, trade unions, the Democratic 
Party, and other government-affiliated entities around the 
 
ASHGABAT 00001298  002 OF 002 
 
 
country. END NOTE.) 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  When asked about the July 2007 amendments that 
reversed an earlier effort to expand the powers of provincial 
government (reftel), Garryev was frank.  He said, "Life moves 
on.  Niyazov passed away.  It doesn't mean we have to stay 
with him.  Turkmenistan is undergoing a renaissance.  We no 
longer fulfill the wish of one person.  It was the Mejlis's 
wish to change the law, and its members represent the 
people." 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Shirin Akhmedova of the Institute for Democracy 
and Human Rights focused her comments on the variety of 
training and cooperation in which the Institute has already 
participated. (NOTE: The Institute is a primary source for 
participants in OSCE and UNDP training on election-related 
issues.  END NOTE.)  She indicated that the Institute wants 
to ensure that more Central Election Commission members at 
all governmental levels receive more training in advance of 
the more significant Mejlis elections scheduled for December 
2008 in order to bring Turkmen election officials closer to 
international election standards.  She admitted that 
Turkmenistan's election law is in need of reform, but added 
that the current law should be evaluated in action before 
making changes.  The Institute, however, intends to work with 
experts from ABA/CEELI, USAID, ICNL and others to assess 
areas of reform and develop a plan to do so. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Government officials are citing their 
close cooperation with international organizations and 
embassies to promote positive change in the system, but 
little change is going to be apparent on December 9.  The 
road to electoral reform will likely be long and bumpy.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CURRAN