Democratic Party of Turkmenistan

The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (Template:Langx, Template:IPA, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current leader is Ata Serdarow.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The party's rule is described as authoritarian or totalitarian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="tandfonline"/><ref name="cyberleninka"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Chairmen

Template:Abbr	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Notes
Chairman
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |1		Saparmurat Niyazov (1940–2006)	16 December 1991	21 December 2006	Died in office
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |2		Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (born 1957)	4 August 2007	18 August 2013	Acting chairman: 21 December 2006 – 4 August 2007
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |3	Template:NA	Kasymguly Babaýew (born 1966)	18 August 2013	2 April 2018
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;" |4	Template:NA	Ata Serdarow (born 1964)	2 April 2018	Incumbent

Election results

Template:Main 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Election year	Candidate	1st round		2nd round		Results
		# Votes	% Votes	# Votes	% Votes
1992	Saparmurat Niyazov	1,874,357	99.51%	colspan=2 Template:N/A	Template:Win
2007	Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow	2,357,120	89.23%	colspan=2 Template:N/A	Template:Win
2012		2,806,265	97.14%	colspan=2 Template:N/A	Template:Win
2017		3,090,610	97.69%	colspan=2 Template:N/A	Template:Win
2022	Serdar Berdimuhamedow	2,452,705	72.97%	colspan=2 Template:N/A	Template:Win

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
1994	Saparmurat Niyazov	2,008,701	100%	Template:Composition bar	New	Template:Increase 1st	Template:Yes
1999		2,224,537	100%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes
2004		1,915,000	100%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes
2008	Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow	2,594,658	100%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 75	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes
2013	Kasymguly Babaýew		37.6%	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 78	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes2
2018				Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 8	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes2
2023	Ata Serdarow			Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 10	Template:Steady 1st	Template:Yes2

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

• Template:Official website