His victory was no doubt in this country considered one of the most closed in the world.
Le Monde with AFP
Serdar Berdymoukhamedov, son of the authoritarian and eccentric President of Turkmenistan, won the presidential election organized on March 12, according to the results announced Tuesday, March 15th. He succeeds his father at the head of this former Soviet Republic of Central Asia, considered one of the most authoritarian countries of the planet.
40 years old, he won the ballot with 73% of the votes in front of eight other candidates without reputation, according to the Electoral Commission of Turkmenistan. His victory was no doubt in this desert country and rich in hydrocarbons where his father, Gourbangouli Berdimoukhamedov, held all the levers of power and organized the ascent of his son with successive promotions. The score remains far from 97% and 98% harvested by his father in the previous two elections.
Keep the country as closed as possible
The outgoing president, who put in place a cult of his personality in this country of 6 million inhabitants, had succeeded in 2006 at Saparmourat Niazov which was, before his death, a leader just as authoritative. Gourbangouli Berdimoukhamedov, 64, had announced in February having taken the “difficult decision” to leave the power because of his age and stated wanting to leave the country to “young leaders”. A few days later, his son became his designated successor without surprise.
Serdar Berdimoukhamedov, before being elected to the presidency, was already vice-prime minister in charge of the economy, and replaced his father as the symbolic position of President of the National Association of Horses Akhal-Teké, a national symbol . Since April 2021, he has also the status of “Honorable breeder” of Alabais, a breed of dogs revealed in Turkmenistan.
Serdar Berdimoukhamedov should continue the work of his father, who has always endeavored to keep the country as closed as possible. Turkmenistan’s economy is almost totally dependent on the sale of natural gas, including China.
However, it has much suffered from the slowdown in global activity because of the coronavirus pandemic. The country, already reclusive, totally cut off from the outside world with the epidemic, while affirming, against obviously, having been spared by CVIV-19.