CENTRAL COMMISSION FOR HOLDING ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS IN TURKMENISTAN
Under the wise leadership of our esteemed President, fundamental reforms aimed at the continuous strengthening of the democratic foundations of the state, the strengthening of the principles of real people's power, and the provision of constitutional rights of citizens are being carried out in the country.
The Constitution of Turkmenistan, the Electoral code of Turkmenistan, which includes internationally recognized democratic norms of conducting elections, is the legal basis of the elections held in the country, and the electoral rights of citizens are ensured in accordance with the law.
The political life of any country is judged by the quality of the elections held in that country. Thus, elections are of great importance in increasing the country's reputation at the international level. Elections are an integral part of a democratic state.
Based on our national democratic principles, within the framework of the organizational activities carried out in order to ensure the conduct of elections on a competitive basis, is a necessary condition for creation of constituencies, nomination and registration of candidates.
A constituency - are territorial units that are divided in order to prepare for and hold elections and elect representatives of the state's elected bodies. The constituency is also means dividing the territory into parts for holding elections. Depending on how many representatives are elected from each constituency in different states, they are divided into single-mandate and multi-mandate constituencies. In our country, single-mandate and multi-mandate constituencies are created according to the relevant elections.
Mandate - a concept that indicates the number of representatives to be elected in a given area (within the constituency).
More precisely, if one deputy or one member is elected from one electoral district, it is called a single-mandate constituency.
If several deputies or several members are elected for one electoral district, it is called a multi-mandate constituency.
The direct elections in our country - elections of the President of Turkmenistan, deputies of the Mejlis of Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, members of velayat, etrap, city halk maslahaty, members of Gengeshs are held in single-mandate constituencies.
The indirect (indirect) elections of members of Milli Gengesh of Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan are held in multi-mandate constituencies. These elections were held for the first time in our country on March 28, 2021.
Constituencies are created by the respective election commissions at least seventy days before the elections. At the elections of deputies of the Mejlis the names of constituencies are also specified.
It should be noted that the number of constituencies created on the territory of the country varies with each elections.
More precisely:
In accordance with the Election code of Turkmenistan, in the elections of the President of Turkmenistan the entire territory of Turkmenistan is one constituency.
In the elections of members of Milli Gengesh of Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, the territory of each velayat, and the city of Ashgabat is an eight-mandate constituency.
In the elections of deputies of the Mejlis of Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan has 125 constituencies with approximately the same number of voters;
In the elections of the members of the velayat, Ashgabat city halk maslahaty, 40 constituencies with approximately the same number of voters in the respective territory;
In the elections of the members of etrap, etrap - level city halk maslahaty are created 20 constituencies with approximately the same number of voters in the respective territory.
In the elections of the members of Gengesh are created 5-15 constituencies with approximately equal number of voters in the respective territory. In this election 5-6 in the area with 1000 voters, 7-8 in the area with 1001 to 2000 voters, 9-11 in the area with 2001 to 4,000 voters, and 12-15 constituencies are created in the territory with more than 4000 voters. The number of constituencies is determined by the respective Gengesh within the prescribed limits.
Division of constituencies according to the number of voters:
For example, in the elections of the members of Gengesh each city, township, gengeshlik in the district is divided into 5 to 15 constituencies depending on the total number of registered voters and the approximate number of voters in each constituency is determined. According to the approximate number of voters in each constituency, the boundaries of the city, township, and gengeshlik are divided into constituencies.
On the elections of the members of Gengesh held on March 25, 2018, were established 5,900 constituencies with approximately the same number of voters in the territory of Turkmenistan, including: 1,000 in Ahal velayat, 393 in Balkan velayat, 1,376 in Dashoguz velayat, 1,426 in Lebap velayat, and 1,705 in Mary velayat.
In order to ensure democratic and equal principles of the elections held in our country, the terms are defined in part 5 of article 38 of the Election code of Turkmenistan "The number of voters in each constituency should not exceed ten percent of the average number of voters in the respective constituency, and fifteen percent in remote and hard-to-reach areas." These conditions are fully observed in the elections held in our country.
Within the scope of measures related to ensuring transparency of elections, the list showing the boundaries of the created constituencies is made available to the public. This shows that within the legal guarantees of the voters, their information guarantees are also provided legally.
We wish to our esteemed President who attaches great importance to the improvement of the election system in the democratic state and confidently leads the people of Turkmenistan to the highest levels of development in freedom, peace and democracy healthy and long life, high dignity, successful continuation in the works for the benefit of the country!
Maksatmyrat GELDIYEV,
head of Organization department of apparatus of the Commission for holding Elections and referendums in Turkmenistan.