Parliamentary elections to be held on two-party basis

Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, September 26/ Trend, H. Hasanov / Parliamentary elections in Turkmenistan which are planned for December 15 2013 will be held on a two-party basis, a message from Central Commission for Elections and Referenda of Turkmenistan said. "The representatives of the two political parties will compete for the victory in the parliamentary elections. This will give a powerful impetus to the pre-election campaign and allow the electorate to nominate the most worthy representatives for the country's legislative body," the message said. The start of the campaign for this election will be announced from October 5 2013 in Turkmenistan. The nomination of candidates for the national parliament will take place from October 16 to November 14. Their registration will take place from October 26 to November 20. At the meeting of the Central Election Commission it was decided to hold training seminars for representatives of political parties, public organizations and associations, electoral commissions, national observers. It is expected that the elections will be observed by national observers and invited international experts and observers from many foreign countries and major international organizations, first of all, the European Union, the CIS and the OSCE. The term of office of MPs is five years. The main current staff was elected in December 2008. Last year a law "On political parties" was adopted in Turkmenistan. On this basis, there was established a Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan in August 2012 in Ashgabat with the participation of 300 delegates representing enterprise structures from all regions of the country. Until that time, the only political organization - the Democratic Party, headed by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was registered in the country. In August 2013 the Turkmen leader adopted a decision to remove the duties of the chairman of this political structure from himself. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az