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P 070721Z MAY 08
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000587 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL 
AID/W FOR EE/EA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAID KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN:  CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM GETS 
UNDERWAY, WITH TWO-MONTH TIMELINE 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Observers and citizens alike were caught 
off-guard when Turkmen television reported April 18 that the 
government had kicked off an effort to revise the national 
constitution.  Although authorities want to present this as a 
transparent process, there are still many details regarding 
the plan for overhauling the country's most important legal 
document that have not been made public.  Still, it is clear 
that the government is intent on setting up an acceptable 
process that will address the interests of all levels of 
government, and to some degree, those of the public.  Trying 
to construct a functional draft in two months, however, will 
likely be a challenge for those doing the brunt of the work. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (U)  On April 18, state television news reported that 
during a Cabinet of Ministers meeting two days earlier, 
Parliament Chairperson Akja Nurberdiyeva reported on the 
issue of revising the country's constitution.  This was the 
first news anyone had heard regarding constitutional reform. 
President Berdimuhamedov said that revising the constitution 
was "the demand of the times," and signed a People's Council 
decree establishing a constitutional commission that he will 
chair.  Commission members had already been selected, and 
were at the cabinet meeting.  The commission met for the 
first time on April 24. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The official decree approved establishment of the 
commission and its work plan, and tasked the parliament with 
assembling all proposed changes and additions received from 
"special working groups," ministries and agencies.  The 
parliament is also responsible for preparing the final draft 
to submit to the commission.  State media will publish the 
details of proposed amendments throughout the process, and 
its journalists are supposed to attend the monthly 
constitutional commission meetings.  State media, however, 
did not report on the April 24 meeting. 
 
¶5.  (U)  The president instructed the parliament to send its 
recommendations on amendments to the commission before July 
¶1.  A special session of the People's Council will convene in 
September in Ashgabat to adopt the amendments.  The press 
report named the specific government entities participating 
in working groups that will develop proposals:  the Ministry 
of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of 
National Security, the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, 
the Institute of State and Law, and the Institute for 
Democracy and Human Rights. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  President Berdimuhamedov called for Turkmenistan's 
people to be allowed to comment on the proposed amendments 
and for the government to also consider proposals from 
academic entities and provincial and local governments. 
However, no specifics have yet emerged regarding how the 
public will be solicited for comment.  Professor Murad 
Haitov, a former Fulbright Scholar who is likely the only 
constitutional law professor in Turkmenistan, told PolOff May 
6 that the parliament had hired him to assess what 
Turkmenistan needs in a constitution.  He said there is a 
plan to introduce a core framework for a revised constitution 
to the public, possibly by the end of May, in order to 
promote public and international dialogue (septel). 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  However, some citizens, like the former engineer 
who now drives a taxi to make ends meet, are skeptical about 
having a role in changing the constitution:  "The government 
doesn't care about peoples' opinions; it will revise the 
constitution by itself, and it will all be over quickly." 
The driver, not an ethnic Turkmen, said he will be most 
interested in changes to the nature of the presidency.  "The 
constitution we have now says that only an ethnic Turkmen can 
become president.  Why should that be, if a candidate was 
 
ASHGABAT 00000587  002 OF 002 
 
 
born here and lived here his whole life?"  He also observed 
that people would likely consider the new constitution to be 
a meaningless piece of paper if it includes provisions for 
"eternal" or lifetime presidential terms, as it did in the 
past.  Others have expressed interest in seeing the 
cumbersome, 2500-member People's Council dissolved. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The reasons given for undertaking a major revision 
of the constitution have been varied.  Berdimuhamedov said 
that some provisions of the current constitution, amended 
four times since independence, are "outdated, lagging behind 
the times, and even hindering progress."  He suggested that 
the operations of "the highest bodies of state authority" are 
in need of change, from the People's Council down to local 
governments.  He said there was a need for new methods for 
managing domestic socio-economic issues, and that developing 
more precise legislation would make that happen.  Others have 
told EmbOffs that the Constitution should be amended in order 
to properly implement new laws being contemplated or 
currently in the drafting stage. 
 
¶8.  (U)  An April 28 editorial quoted the president as saying 
"the entire system of state administration, first of all, the 
highest bodies of authority" would be more effective if 
legislation governing their activities and lawmaking 
procedures were revised.  The new constitution, it said, 
would provide the framework for Turkmenistan's conversion to 
a free, democratic, market economy state that enforces the 
rule of law and guarantees human rights. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  The notion of constitutional reform is a 
positive development.  However, some have questioned the 
government's ability to make significant changes within the 
timeline that President Berdimuhamedov has laid out.  The 
Chairman of the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights, 
Shirin Akmedova, lamented that the president's timeline is 
too short to permit holding conferences and seminars on 
constitutional change.  Embassy hopes that, in moving ahead 
at full throttle, senior officials will not skimp on 
permitting public groups and others some sort of chance to 
comment, since this would enhance the credibility of the 
constitutional review process.  END COMMENT. 
CURRAN