Turkmenistan has completed the long process of formation of the new power structure. And it is not democracy.
* Regression – devolution, retrogression.
In mid-April, the country completed the formation of governing bodies and labour organisations of the newly elected parliament – Medzhlis of Turkmenistan – and it became fully operational. Thus, a long, full of intrigues and political manoeuvres path of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to the absolute power of himself, as well to the creation of the government institution ensuring the hereditary transfer of power has come to an end.
Here’s a reminder that the office of the president of Turkmenistan has been officially held by his son Serdar Berdymukhamedov since March 2022. And since 2023, Berdymukhamedov Senior has been the head of the Khalk Maslakhaty (People’s Council) and was given the title of the National Leader of Turkmenistan, which gives him almost royal power.
Path to power
After coming to power following the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006, Berdymukhamedov started to get rid of his legacy immediately. He also got rid of laws, which ensured and secured absolute and lifelong power to Niyazov, whose title was Turkmenbashi (from Turkmen “the leader of Turkmens”). In 2008, the country adopted the new Constitution, which removed all references to the role and meaning of the Turkmenbashi.
Back then, Khalk Maslakhaty – pseudo democratic body – was liquidated. It was notorious for sentencing* some nationals to life imprisonment, including in absentia, by declaring them “traitors to motherland” and doing so retroactively in violation of the Constitution and Criminal Code of the country.
* Since the early 2000s, Turkmenistan began open reprisals, which quickly turned into mass ones, and led to a formation of a group of people referred to as “missing ones in Turkmenistan prisons” and nothing is known about their fate so far. According to the “Prove they are alive” campaign, there are 162 persons declared missing. However, this figure can be much higher in fact.
The Khalk Maslakhaty was a state body – a structure over all branches of government, which incorporated them into its structure. It consisted of:
- The president, who was its head,
- The government,
- The parliament,
- The Supreme Court,
- The General Prosecutor’s office,
- Representatives of regional authorities,
- Members of the veteran public organisation named after the Turkmenbashi’s father,
- Members of the women’s public organisation named after the Turkmenbashi’s mother,
- Members of the youth public organisation named after the national poet Makhtumkuli,
- Representatives of trade unions,
- Editors of state-run media,
- The unidentified number of “public figures”, who were appointed by order of Turkmenbashi himself.
In the Niyazov’s constitution, this body was identified as the “supreme representative government body in Turkmenistan”, while the law said about the Khalk Maslakhaty as the “highest manifestation of the true democracy and the rule of people.”
This structure allowed Niyazov to have direct control over all branches of government and the socio-political life in the country at the legislative level, while taking control of the parliament, justice system and the media. On the one hand, the country had the elected parliament, although controlled by intelligence agencies, the declared separation of powers, yet the whole system was under strict supervision of the Khalk Maslakhaty, which was controlled by one person – Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the Great – it was the official title of Niyazov by the date of his death in 2006.
After coming to power, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov realised that the actual image of the pariah state curbed its development. Ex-president was involved in all reports of violations of all conceivable human rights and democratic norms, as well as the object of global mockery for demonstrating his egocentrism. Even the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2003-2004 curtailed all of its activities in Turkmenistan and closed its mission due to mass reprisals and violations of norms of democracy.
But it was not the only insight that motivated Berdymukhamedov. Being a “young president” (as Berdymukhamedov called himself in his speech at Columbia University in 2007), he wanted to be accepted in the respectable society, to have a respectable reputation, especially in the West, which he wanted to be the buyer of the Turkmenistan gas – the age-old dream of Turkmenistan’s government.
The 2008 Constitution of Turkmenistan contained the principle of division of powers, although the figure of the president remained the basis of the power and the number of terms in office was not restricted in any way. The constitutional court was neglected; the Constitution did not contain the right to leave the country and to return freely, while the freedom of speech and access to information were represented as if they were not absolute. However, it still was a great step forward.
In 2008, even the EBRD returned to the country and several international NGOs were permitted to work there – Medicines Sans Frontiers and the World Wild Fund.
Berdymukhamedov started to remove the legacy of Niyazov. The Monument of Constitution was devised in the same 2008, and built in 2011, and had two dates inscribed on it – 1992, the year of adoption of the first constitution after gaining independence, and 2008, the year of adoption of the new Constitution. Thus, Berdymukhamedov was simply removing all previous experiences of his predecessor from the “constitutional” history.
As time passed, Berdymukhamedov could consolidate his power quickly and get rid of political heavyweights, even those who supported him in the struggle for power in the first hours after Niyazov’s death. Independent foreign NGOs were expelled from Turkmenistan, while Turkmenistan found itself again in all reports of human rights organisations as one of the main violator of rights and freedoms.
“Berdymukhamedov did not even take the opportunity to get rid of one of the most toxic heritages of the Niyazov’s period – he failed to disclose information about fates of over fifteen hundred persons, who disappeared in prisons of Turkmenistan, and transferred this toxic “asset” to himself personally. It was a big mistake and it’s even difficult to estimate the damage caused to the state, both reputational and financial, by this decision,” said Mamed Geldymuradov, dissident (all names of speakers were changed for security reasons).
Having no restrictions as to the number of terms of presidential office, Berdymukhamedov, shortly before the regular election, initiated adoption of the new version of the Constitution of Turkmenistan in 2016. It prolonged the term of office from five to seven years, and age limit of 70 years old, which restricted the age of the official in office, was removed.
After winning the 2017 regular election, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov initiated the constitutional law returning the Khalk Maslakhaty, which he had abolished previously, back into the state power structure. However, its composition and structure were fully identical to that of his predecessor Niyazov.
Along with law-making initiatives, the state ideological propaganda unfolded mainly to make the personality of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacred and to institutionalise his personality cult, in fact. His then unofficial title “Arkadag”, loosely interpreted as “protector”, was started to be used in the state vocabulary, while songs dedicated to Arkadag were broadcasted on radio and TV, even at weddings. The slogan “Arkadaga shokhrat!” (translated from Turkmen “Glory to protector!”) was seen on posters, banners during parades and demonstrations, and became mandatory for chanting for schoolchildren, students, the military, any public servants organised for this purpose.
Even the image of the gold-plated monument of Berdymukhamedov started to be copied by all artistic works of propaganda, from TV on out to posters hanging in halls of every state agency, including kindergartens. And it became mandatory to replace his portraits every year in all state agencies and all public places.
Preparation of the heir
However, just a few months after the return of the Khalk Maslakhaty, the president announced another initiative to change the system of state power and the constitution, the new version of which he prepared. As a result of the reform of the basic law, the two-chamber parliament emerged in 2020. The lower chamber, Medzhlis, was formed according to the regular procedure and was a typical parliament, while the upper chamber was formed on the basis of regional representation. Moreover, the law first had the concept of ex-president, who had the life-long seat in the upper chamber of parliament, which was named the same, i.e. Khalk Maslakhaty.
Meanwhile, the political ‘star’ of son of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov – Serdar, began to rise. The authorities started to get ready for his rise in advance and revised the legislation so that to avoid any uncertainties about legitimacy of his future presidency.
Thus, the legislation about the Medzhlis (parliament) of Turkmenistan was revised, namely, regarding the status of a deputy. The norm forbidding a deputy to be engaged in any other activity but scientific and teaching was removed from the legislation. When several laws were merged into one law “On Medzhlis”, this norm disappeared, which allowed Serdar Berdymukhamedov to be elected to the parliament and become a deputy, and also hold offices in the executive branch.
This safety cushion in the form of being a deputy allowed him to take office of the speaker of parliament in case of hypothetical emergency and to inherit power from the incapacitated president, according to the new norms of the latest version of the Constitution. The law that directly prohibited simultaneous public office and direct subordination of close relatives was removed, too. The law was adopted back in the presidency of Niyazov as the measure to prevent nepotism and corruption. But when a decision was made on Serdar’s entry to the higher echelon of power in 2019, this law was declared invalid by president’s decree.
At the same time, Serdar Berdymukhamedov started his chaotic, at first sight, movement from office to office in different state agencies. He managed to work in the ministry of foreign affairs, tax service, to hold executive positions in the central region of the country. Everything was pointing to the fact that he was prepared for the presidency and they waited for Serdar to turn 40, which is the lowest age limit for a presidential candidate.
Elections to the upper chamber of parliament in 2021 became the continuation of the intrigue – current president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was registered as candidate on the last day of nomination of candidates to deputies all of a sudden, without the election campaign. And the following day he was elected to the upper chamber of parliament. It is worth noting that it was done in violation of the constitutional norm of Turkmenistan, which expressly prohibits combination of offices of the president and deputy of parliament.
Nevertheless, President Berdymukhamedov was elected the chair at the first session of the chamber concurrently with the presidency. Thus, the head of the executive power became the head of the upper chamber of the legislative branch at the same time.
This political somersault perplexed many people – the office of the head of upper chamber of parliament, especially at the beginning of its formation, implies serious loads and a lot of working hours spent to perform official duties. But Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov did not bother to do it all and assigned all formal work to his deputy, thus showing that this position was nominal for him and does not mean much to him.
At the end of 2021, President Berdymukhamedov started to speak about the need to “give way to the young” all of a sudden. However, he noted that he would not leave but wanted to focus on supervising the operation of the upper chamber of parliament.
In early February, the parliament issued a meagre message saying that the extraordinary presidential election would be held on March 12, 2022. It’s needless to remind that his son Serdar won the rapid electoral race. But Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov himself did not go anywhere. He remained the chair of the upper chamber of parliament, and constantly demonstrated his presence and influence.
Everything will be Arkadag
The real passion of Berdymukhamedov Sr. was the new city, which was initially named Akhal City. It was planned as the capital of the central region of Turkmenistan – Akhal velayat (region) and was established from scratch 30 kilometres west of the current capital Ashgabat. Many other construction sites of the city were suspended, and all resources were diverted to the construction of the city.
Berdymukhamedov Sr. did planning and design of the city by himself – from location of buildings, streets, their names, including names of his relatives, to manholes and streetlights. The city was based on the “smart city concept”, although no one has never explained what it means to the society.
When the city construction was coming to an end, the long-waited initiative to name the new city Arkadag in honour of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, or rather his informal title, appeared. It was done immediately – the parliament approved the new city Arkadag on the list of settlements of Turkmenistan, and it was assigned the “official status” in 2023, which also remained unclear. Even the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, did not have the status.
And right after it, Berdymukhamedov Sr. declared the expansion of the city of Arkadag and continuation of construction, which immediately gave rise to rumours about the possible transfer of the capital of Turkmenistan. According to one dissident, soon everything in the country will be Arkadag. Even current president Serdar Berdymukhamedov is now called “Arkadagly Serdar” in the media and official statements, which literally means “Serdar, son of Arkadag”, which puts him to the subordinate position.
Back to the beginning
In 2023, the authorities decided to amend the national constitution and the structure of the state power again. In January, parliament at its session resolved to liquidate the upper chamber and create the Khalk Maslakhaty for the third time. It is again composed of all branches of power, as well as representatives of the media, trade unions, public, etc.
In other words, full return to the structure of power that existed in the time of Saparmurat Niyazov took place. With one important difference, though. President Serdar Berdymukhamedov signed the decree in which the newly created Khalk Maslakhaty was headed by his father, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
According to the law, resolutions of the Khalk Maslakhaty are binding upon all branches of power, including the head of state. In other words, the president by its decree ordered that Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, elected by no one for this role, should be the head to him and the whole state.
The authorities are aware of the deficiencies in the legitimacy of what happened, so they played it on the safe side. According to the constitutional law “On Khalk Maslakhaty”, in case of incapacity of the chair of Khalk Maslakhaty, his powers go to the president of Turkmenistan. And vice versa, the chair of Khalk Maslakhaty may take on responsibilities of the president of Turkmenistan in case of his incapacity and other circumstances.
“Given that both top positions in the country are held by father and son, they have control over all branches of power and authorities and duplicate each other in it, we are dealing with the usurpation of power by one family and building of the dynasty-based pseudo democracy or the parody of it. […] It seemed that the authorities feared, doubted whether to take a step, and after taking it, they take it back. But now “everything is fine”, now all power is in the hands of one family, and they are not going to give it to anyone, ever,” said Kumush Bairieva, political analyst and political writer.
On top of that, on January 21, 2023, another constitutional law was adopted. It vested truly royal powers and privileges in Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. Its name is “On the National Leader of Turkmen People.” It gives him absolute right to affect the national policy-making and the direct control of the state, of all social and political life in the country and the state. Moreover, the National Leader has absolute immunity.
“Arkadag as the national leader, who is not elected by people, yet having great powers, has no legitimacy, and is not accountable to the people or parliament. This is what causes great concerns. He does not need to be ‘life-long president,’ or take care about elections, debase himself by competing with ‘mere mortals.’ Now he is above all that, he is getting ready to go down in history of the Turkmen people as the National Leader. It’s sad that no one asked the people if they needed a new czar…,” said Kumush Bairieva.