Excerpts from report by the Turkmen news agency Turkmen Press on 11th
December

Parliamentary elections are to be held in Turkmenistan on 12th December
[1999].This important political event will sum up some results of the
development of democratic reforms in the country, because its importance is
determined not only by the fact that new members are being elected to the
Mejlis [Turkmen parliament], but also by the level of open and fair
competition which has for the first time been ensured throughout the
electoral process. On the eve of this event, the head of the Central
Commission on Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan, Professor [Murad
Orazkuliyevich] Karryev, gave an interviewed to Turkmen Press news agency.

[Question] Murad Orazkuliyevich, can you tell us, please, how the
preparations for the elections have proceeded and what their special
features are?

[Answer] The most important feature of the current elections is that they
are being held on a broad democratic basis. There are alternative
candidates in all 50 electoral districts. In some electoral districts there
are three candidates contesting at once. In all there are 104 people
running for parliament in the country, 24 of them women. Only 50 of these
will become deputies of the Mejlis of the second convocation. [passage
omitted: 99 per cent of them have higher education]
Another very important aspect is that all the candidates to the Mejlis have
had equal access to the mass media. Their manifestos were published in the
press. Each candidate had the opportunity to present his programme on
television. Meetings with voters were greeted actively and with commitment.
Thus the citizens of our country had the opportunity to find out about the
candidates and their election platforms and to make their choice in
advance.

[Q] Could you brief us about the voting procedure and the procedure for
summing up the results?

[A] At 0800 [local time; 0300 gmt] in the morning the 1,560 polling stations
will open their doors for voting, which will continue till 1800 [1300 gmt].
[passage omitted: President Niyazov instructed that voting must be done in
person, in secret, no interference allowed]
We are very hopeful that on this remarkable day all amicable Turkmen
families and all citizens of Turkmenistan will come to the polling stations
and take part in the nation-wide poll.

I can let you into a little secret. The youngest voters, who have only just
reached the age of 18 and who are voting for the first time, will receive
special souvenir gifts.

[passage omitted to end: list of elected deputies to be announced within 10
days following the elections; these elections will determine the country's
future in new millennium]

Source: Turkmen Press news agency, Ashkhabad, in Russian 1030 gmt 11 Dec 99
BBC Mon CAU 111299 VA/MN