Excerpts from report by the Turkmen newspaper 'Neytralnyy

Turkmenistan' on 10th June

[Newspaper headline] Turkmenistan is preparing for

parliamentary elections

Elections to the Mejlis [parliament] of Turkmenistan will

take place in December this year [1999]. Great importance is

attached to this event - signifying a new stage in the

democratization of society. The central commission for

elections and holding referendums in Turkmenistan, which is to

announce the final results of the parliamentary elections, has

been entrusted with serious and principally new tasks. At the

request of the Turkmen Press agency, the chairman of the

Central Electoral Commission, Professor Murad Orazkuliyevich

Karryev, talks on the importance of the forthcoming elections

and the Central Electoral Commission's task.

[passage omitted: the independent neutral Turkmenistan is

developing civic institutions on the basis of democratic

principles; praising Turkmen President Niyazov contributions to

democracy; the building of a legal state is a priority of

Turkmenistan's foreign and domestic policy; citizens of the

state can directly address the president by post; all nations

and ethnic groups are equal, there are no privilegies according

to sex, office and party belonging; people enjoy freedom of

belief]

A great deal of interest in the elections both inside and

outside the country testifies to the extreme importance of the

parliamentary elections with the expansion of the parliament's

powers, which will partly be given controlling functions over

the activity of executive power bodies.

[passage omitted: the role of parliament must increase;

MPs' responsibility before society will also increase]

Today, a legal foundation has been created in Turkmenistan

to guarantee democratic conditions for holding free elections.

National legislation guarantees all citizens of the country the

chance to participate in the elections and the possibility of

being elected as a member of the representative bodies of the

country.

[passage omitted: under a programme to increase political

and election awareness of citizens, work is being carried out

amongst the people to explain their rights, freedoms, duties

and the political importance of the forthcoming elections]

The work of the Central Electoral Commission, which has

been elected for the first time elected on a permanent basis,

will be formed in line with the status secured by a special

law, which was approved by the president of Turkmenistan and

adopted by parliament.

[passage omitted: the electoral commission arranges

elections and monitors the execution of the election law] The

law bans any indirect influence on members of the commission

which is linked with their executive powers. Decisions of the

Central Electoral Commission and Conducting Referendums in

Turkmenistan must be executed and can be appealed against at

the court only as far as they affect the implementation of the

electoral rights of citizens, guarantees of which were secured

by a special legislative act. The Central Electoral Commission

is accountable in its activity to the Turkmen parliament.

[passage omitted: the electoral commission has approved a

schedule of its meetings and measures for conducting the

elections]

Source: 'Neytralnyy Turkmenistan', Ashkhabad, in Russian 10 Jun99 p1

BBC Mon CAU290699/24 AJBA/KA