VZCZCXRO7806
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1336/01 3441338
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101338Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9850
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3087
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0902
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0776
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1352
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1342
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1977
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0647

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001336 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN'S PROVINCIAL PEOPLE'S COUNCIL 
ELECTIONS:  LOW TURNOUT, FEW CHANGES 
 
REF: A. ASHGABAT 1274 
 
     ¶B. ASHGABAT 1298 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Amid very light turnout, Turkmenistan's 
citizens voted for members of their provincial people's 
councils December 9.  The Central Election Commission 
provided its typical overexaggerated estimates, claiming by 
the end of the day that an improbable 98.58% of 
Turkmenistan's voters had participated in the polls.  Post 
also heard some credible reports of voting irregularities. 
Hopefully, Turkmenistan's engagement and cooperation with the 
OSCE, UNDP and others, who are currently reviewing electoral 
legislation, will lead to some improvements by the Mejlis 
(parliamentary) elections in December 2008.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U) As reported ref a, Turkmenistan's citizens had the 
opportunity to vote December 9 for their new provincial-level 
people council representatives.  Polling stations opened 
promptly at 8:00 am, and began blaring Turkmen music shortly 
thereafter to create a more festive atmosphere.  Despite this 
incentive, voter participation at polling stations seemed 
very light.  An FSN who voted noted that, although names were 
appropriately crossed off at her polling station as the 
voters registered, only about 30% of the names on the page 
had been crossed out by mid-afternoon.  (COMMENT:  Post 
experience is that voting is usually substantially higher in 
Ashgabat than elsewhere, since the percentage of government 
employees there is highest, and government organs typically 
order their employees to vote.  If this is accurate, voting 
around most of the rest of the country must have been very 
light.  END COMMENT.)  By evening, the government media was 
quoting the Chairman of Turkmenistan's Central Election 
Commission, Murat Garryev, as claiming a voter turnout rate 
of 98.58% -- higher than for the February 2007 presidential 
election. 
 
PRESIDENT CASTS AN EARLY VOTE 
 
¶4.  (U) One of the early voters was President Berdimuhamedov, 
who was filmed with his father and grandson as they cast 
their votes in Ashgabat's Chandybil District.  This 
particular photo-op had clearly been carefully chosen:  the 
three candidates running for election in that particular 
precinct -- a female kindergarten principal, a female math 
teacher and a male police lieutenant -- came from 
particularly diverse social, economic and professional 
backgrounds, demonstrating both purported gender equality and 
the opportunity for advancement. 
 
LACK OF PRESS AND KNOWLEDGE 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Mirroring the public's more general apathy, only 
two of twelve polled embassy FSNs cast their votes, citing 
both their unawareness of what the elections were about and 
disbelief in the credibility of the system.  (COMMENT:  Their 
complaints of the lack of prior information on the process 
may be well deserved.  Unlike the elections for people's 
councils at the village and district levels, when emboffs saw 
campaign meetings in at least a few areas, post is unaware 
that any campaign meetings took place at all for this 
election.  END COMMENT.)  The profusion of high-priority news 
in recent days -- coverage of visits by Turkey's President 
Gul and Tajikistan's President Rahmon, and the opening of a 
UN Regional Conflict Prevention Center in Ashgabat -- also 
conspired to keep election coverage off the front page of 
newspapers.  Under the election law, the voting results must 
be made public within five days. 
 
VOTING IRREGULARITIES STILL EVIDENT 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00001336  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) As in previous elections, there were scattered 
reports of some election irregularities.  In one case, an 
FSN's father was allowed to cast votes for his entire family 
(this practice, linked to the family patriarch's traditional 
leadership role, is usually tolerated by election officials, 
since it ensures a higher voter turnout rate).  In another 
case, a member of the embassy's local staff who is registered 
in another province was allowed to vote in her sister's 
precinct. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Since the provincial people's councils 
have little real power, this election was of interest 
primarily as an indicator for identifying what needs to be 
done to improve Turkmenistan's election system.  There were 
no indications of procedural improvement, but also the 
exaggerated voting totals and lack of advance information 
about candidates and their platforms feeds the public's 
cynicism about the uselessness of voting.  Hopefully, 
Turkmenistan's engagement and cooperation with the OSCE, UNDP 
and others, who are currently reviewing electoral 
legislation, will lead to some improvements by the Mejlis 
(parliamentary) elections in December 2008. 
CURRAN