CENTRAL COMMISSION FOR HOLDING ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS IN TURKMENISTAN
Under the leadership of the esteemed President, fundamental transformations are being carried out in our country aimed at the consistent strengthening of the democratic foundations of the state, consolidation of the principles of the democracy, and ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens.
The norms of citizens' electoral rights are ensured according to the democratic principles, in accordance with the Constitution of Turkmenistan, which includes the generally recognized international norms for holding elections in the country. And consolidation of these legal provisions into the Constitution of Turkmenistan, which derives from the traditions of our people, shows the manifestation of democracy in the state and the recognition of legal guarantees for citizens to participate in the management of the affairs of society and the state.
In Article 1 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan provided, that "Turkmenistan is a democratic, legal and secular state governed by a presidential republic".
As it known, elections are the main institution of a democratic, legal and secular state, as well as one of the methods of formation of civil relations management of various organizations, that is, state organizations and local self-government bodies. That is why elections based on democratic principles are an important expression of the people's power and the main content of its part.
At this point, in order to explain to readers in more detail about the content of the electoral law and the electoral system, it would be appropriate first of all to stay on a few terms that make up its basis. For example, a voter is a citizen who has an active voting right in the country, where the elections are held. Speaking about the right to vote, we mean a set of normative legal acts that establish the procedure of formation of state electoral bodies and regulate relations in the electoral system, to elect and being elected to state organizations of a citizen in a subjective sense, i.e. active and passive suffrage. Electoral law is one of the significant institutions of constitutional law.
The electoral system is an electoral system of the state, which first of all consists of the norms establishing the order of formation of representative bodies, and is a significant content of its part in the formation of the political system of the state. Relations in the electoral system as a whole are regulated by the legal norms that constitute the right to vote. The electoral system combines the principles and conditions of citizens' participation in the formation of electoral bodies in the state, as well as the organization and procedure of holding elections. And speaking of electoral bodies, if we look at the international aspect of electoral law, these are the organizations that prepare and provide the holding elections that mean the electoral commissions. In different countries, the role of election bodies is played by election commissions formed specifically for this purpose, as well as previously operating state bodies, such as internal affairs, local government bodies and judges. In our country, the role of election bodies is played by the Central Commission for holding elections and referendums in Turkmenistan, as well as velayat, cities with the rights of velayats, city election commissions, and district election commissions, election commissions of city in the etrap, villages, gengeshliks and precinct election commissions. The term of office of these election commissions is 5 years.
What is constituency? A constituency is a unit of the borders, which is divided for the purpose of preparing and holding elections, and to elect the representatives of the state electoral bodies. In different states, depending on the election of the number of representatives from each constituency, they are divided into single-mandate and multi-mandate constituencies. And in our country, there are single-mandate constituencies with approximately equal numbers of voters.
A polling station is a unit of boundaries established for voting and counting of votes. In Turkmenistan, for the purpose of voting in elections and referendums, the territory of a city, settlement or village is divided into polling stations. The polling stations are formed by etrap and city election commissions with the number of twenty to two thousand voters.
A candidate is a citizen with the right to vote, who has put forward his candidacy for this or that electoral post, namely for election to the Presidency, to deputy, or to members of the Halk maslahaty and Gengesh.
Realization of secret ballot during elections on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, free campaigning, equality of candidates during the election campaign are the main constitutional principles in the country's electoral system.
In Section V of the Constitution of Turkmenistan contained an article, which includes ten articles on the "Electoral system and referendum", and which forms the basis of holding elections in the country. The norms of electoral law, enshrined in the main Law, as an important expression of democracy, clearly show that the elections held in the country are conducted in accordance with the universally recognized norms of international law.
Dear President, in his speech at the second meeting of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, held on September 25, 2019, proposed to move to a bicameral system, taking into account the ongoing changes in the world and the experience gained in many countries, and to join the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan and the Mejlis of Turkmenistan to the system of bodies implementing the tasks of the representative legislative power. The National Leader's proposals were unanimously supported by the people.
What does switching to a bicameral system really mean?! The transition to a qualitatively new, bicameral system, first of all, will provide an opportunity to represent the interests of all strata of the Turkmen society, i.e. will have a positive impact on the modern improvement of democracy, as well as will give an impetus to the establishment of closer contacts with voters by these representatives on the ground, and create conditions for strengthening control over the implementation of laws and national programs.
Amangeldi Annadurdyev,
Secretary of the Central commission
for holding elections and referendums in Turkmenistan.