The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (, , TDP) is a political party in Turkmenistan founded in 1991. It has been the ruling party of the country since its foundation.
The party was led by former Soviet provincial party leader Saparmurat Niyazov from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s until his death in 2006. In 2013, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow suspended his party membership for the duration of his presidency. The current leader is Ata Serdarow. The party's rule is described as authoritarian or totalitarian.
History
The TDP was created following the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a successor party to the Communist Party of Turkmenistan. The internal structure of the old party was effectively unchanged in the transition, as was the old guard. The TDP has faced limited and sporadic challenges from alternative political parties in the past but have never faced a significant challenge during an election because of the often repressive nature of politics in the country. Opposition parties are usually crushed before they make any significant grounds in public opinion. This has been the case even after the formal legalisation of opposition parties in 2010.
Policies Due to the lack of opposition parties to contest for government, the TDP controls most, if not all, industries of significant revenue directly. Central planning is a key element of party policy and serves as the basis of functionality for government services. The party's ideology of "Turkmen nationalism" was theorised by former party leader Saparmurat Niyazov for the purpose of an authoritarian state ideology in Turkmenistan.
Chairmen PictureNameTook officeLeft officeNotesChairman 1Saparmurat Niyazov
(1940–2006)16 December 199121 December 2006Died in office2Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
(born 1957)4 August 200718 August 2013Acting chairman: 21 December 2006 – 4 August 20073Kasymguly Babaýew
(born 1966)18 August 20132 April 20184Ata Serdarow
(born 1964)2 April 2018Incumbent
Election results
Turkmenistan elects on the national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. Elections in Turkmenistan have been widely criticised for being completely fraudulent and attempting to give an appearance of legitimacy to what is in reality a dictatorship.
Presidential elections The last presidential election was held in 2022. Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round Results # Votes % Votes # Votes % Votes1992Saparmurat Niyazov1,874,35799.51% colspan=2 2007Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow2,357,12089.23% colspan=2 20122,806,26597.14% colspan=2 2017 3,090,61097.69% colspan=2 2022Serdar Berdimuhamedow2,452,70572.97% colspan=2
Legislative elections The Assembly is a 125-member legislative body officially led by the president of Turkmenistan. The DPT, not unlike every other facet of political life in Turkmenistan, holds a majority of seats, with accusations that the multi-party system established in the early 2010s only consists of bloc parties, nominally independent but loyal to the DPT. The last election for the assembly was held in 2023. Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government 1994Saparmurat Niyazov 2,008,701 100% New 1st 1999 2,224,537 100% 0 1st 2004 1,915,000 100% 0 1st 2008 Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow 2,594,658 100% 75 1st 2013Kasymguly Babaýew 37.6% 78 1st 2018 8 1st 2023 Ata Serdarow 10 1st
See also Elections in Turkmenistan People's Council of Turkmenistan Assembly of Turkmenistan Politics of Turkmenistan
References
Sources Country Studies accessed on 31 July 2008 Badykova, Najia (2004-06-18). "The Turkmen Economy: Challenges and Opportunities". St Antony's College, University of Oxford. Retrieved 31 July 2008. BBC: Turkmenistan's 'sham poll' closes. Sunday, 19 December 2004, 17:22 GMT
External links