VZCZCXRO1874
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #1601/01 3441249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091249Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1983
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4584
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2388
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2253
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 2832
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 3138
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 001601 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN:  LEBAP PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS 
DEMONSTRATE THEIR READINESS FOR MEJLIS ELECTIONS 
 
¶1.  (U)  Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Poloff spent December 8 in the northern 
city of Turkmenabat to see how preparations were coming 
regarding the December 14 Mejlis elections.  Provincial 
officials organized meetings with a deputy hakim (governor), 
the provincial election commission, three polling stations, 
two district election commissions, the three candidates for 
one constituent district, and a meeting between the three 
candidates and a group of voters.  All parties expressed 
their readiness for the impending elections, confidence that 
logistics and procedures within polling stations will be 
undertaken without a hitch.  Although candidates could 
elucidate on some of the priorities of their future work as 
potential deputies, none could find words to express why a 
voter should vote for one of them in particular.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Poloff met first with Lebap Deputy Governor Tumar 
Muhamedova, who talked about the ongoing development of 
Turkmenbat's infrastructure.  A range of construction 
projects are now planned or underway in the city and nearby 
districts, and are helping to employ many residents, 
including a 10,000 seat stadium, a hippodrome, a textile 
factory, a conference center, and sports complex.  She noted 
that the upcoming election represents a big change for Lebap, 
in that the province will be represented by 27 deputies (vice 
10 deputies).  Lebap deputies, however, will be focused on 
the legislative work of the country, rather than raising 
issues of specific concern to Lebap residents. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Provincial election commission members said that 
the task of creating more election districts in order to 
accommodate the larger representation in the Mejlis was left 
to them.  They said that some of their districts were divided 
to create new districts, but could not clearly explain how 
the new constituencies were created.  One commission member, 
responding to a question about candidate nomination and 
registration, said that registration hinges only upon 
receiving a sufficient number of votes from the nominating 
group, and little else.  Very few achieve nomination without 
successful registration. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The polling stations were in two of Lebap's 
constituent districts -- one in the city of Turkmenabat, the 
other two south and east, near the town of Sakar.  Election 
officials at the polling station in Turkmenabat said they 
were expecting three observers at their site.  One observer 
from the CIS and two observers from the OSCE would monitor 
their location's activities on the day of the elections. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Sakar is about 20-25 miles from Turkmenabat, but 
surprisingly, the sites of the polling stations had no 
plumbing or running water.  Election commissioners at each 
location were anxious to host poloff's visit and had tables 
of hot food, tea, and vodka waiting.  Each had information on 
the candidates displayed in Turkmen, and brief information 
regarding the new method for marking ballots positively 
(rather than crossing out the candidates you do not want), so 
that voters would understand the change.  In only one polling 
station did poloff witness commission subordinates working. 
Three young women were hard at work filling in invitations 
that will be delivered in person to each registered voter. 
They were tasked with ensuring that the invitations, which 
provide information on the voter's polling station location, 
its hours of operation, and his personal registration number 
that will be needed to vote on Sunday. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Two or three booths, strung with ornate green 
curtains, were standing by.  Each booth was fitted with a 
small table for writing on the ballot, and a new oil lantern 
to provide light.  Clear lucite ballot boxes were present -- 
smaller ones to take to voters who cannot come to the polls 
and larger ones for the station.  All the ballot boxes were 
 
ASHGABAT 00001601  002 OF 002 
 
 
of slightly different construct or design, and only one had 
some kind of official seal on it.  At least one was 
constructed by means of screws, which would have to be 
removed to access the box's contents.  Others had hinged 
doors on top. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  None of the election commissions knew of any 
candidates that had been nominated by an independent 
citizen's group, although some are nominated by gengeshes, or 
town councils.  The candidates running in the two 
constituencies visited had been nominated by the Womens' 
Union, a professional union, the Democratic Party, or a local 
gengesh.  They were all government employees, working for the 
education ministry, agriculture ministry, a state enterprise, 
or the Democratic Party. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Poloff met with the three candidates running in 
the 84th constituent district.  The first, Bayramgeldi 
Ovezov, a veterinarian, expressed his interest in focusing 
attention on the need for housing in the province, and 
improving the well-being of residents here, to include 
increasing the profits on cotton for residents who grow and 
harvest it.  The second, Amangeldi Mamedov, a Democratic 
Party functionary in a rural area, stated his readiness to 
help advance President Berdimuhamedov's foreign and domestic 
policy goals and the reform agenda.  The third, Jumadurdy 
Jumayev, a high school principal in a rural area, said very 
little, but commented on the need to support local 
agriculture and open more factories that process agricultural 
output.  When asked about what they are saying to voters to 
encourage them to vote for one candidate over the others, all 
three candidates were silent.  Reminded that campaigning can 
involve both commenting on one's own strengths and skills as 
well as citing opponents' potential deficiencies, as most 
observers were able to see in the U.S. election, the 
candidates could not comment on specific reasons why voters 
should prefer them. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  The final event of the day was a meeting the 
governor's office had organized between the candidates and 
their advocates (proxies) and a group of some 40 voters at a 
cotton processing factory in Sakar.  First, the biographies 
of the three candidates were read to those attending.  Then, 
in turn, an advocate or proxy for the candidate stood up and 
spoke to the crowd, in Turkmen, underscoring the candidate's 
background and how it would uniquely serve him in the Mejlis. 
 Then, the candidate had a chance to speak to the crowd, 
noting the main points of his platform, such as the 
development of infrastructure, sports programs for youth, 
support of agriculture, and the reform agenda.  The final 
portion of the program allowed the crowd to pose several 
questions to the candidates, but lasted only a few minutes. 
(NOTE:  Poloff had to sit for tea and run for a plane, so 
missed the questions, but observed that the meeting broke up 
within five minutes of her departure.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  All the election officials poloff met 
expressed their complete readiness for the upcoming 
elections, and sites were clearly ready to go.  If logistics 
and planning and readiness to follow appropriate, 
internationally-acknowledged procedures were the only measure 
of an election's conduct, it would appear that Lebap election 
officials would receive high marks for their performance 
before and during the course of the elections.  However, it 
will take more changes before elections here can be described 
as fully free and fair.  END COMMENT. 
MILES