By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor 26 October 2004 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=576044 Central Asia's most idiosyncratic dictator has engineered a plan that will allow him to remain in office for the rest of his life by dispensing with a further presidential election. In the past, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov's decrees have outlawed gold teeth and renamed the calendar so that the first month of the year bears his official title, Turkmenbashi, or head of the Turkmens. Yesterday, he asked parliament disingenuously to hold presidential elections in 2009, saying "When I turn 70, please release me. Younger people will be ready. Nothing lasts for ever and the destiny of a people must not depend on one person." The hand-picked 2,000 members of parliament swiftly came to the rescue, and pleaded with the President, 64, to reconsider. He had already been named president for life in 1999, but later rejected that. It seems he has now had second thoughts. "You are given to us by God and therefore any talk about presidential elections should be stopped," said Murad Berdysopyyev, a senior member of the parliament, or People's Council. A deputy, Muratbedry Sopyyev, said: "This must not even be discussed. We elected you for life. There is no alternative person. No, no and no." The former Soviet republics of central Asia are all ruled by ruthless neo-communist leaders who have created personality cults around themselves and stifled dissent. But President Niyazov, who has ruled Turkmenistan since 1985, is the most bizarre of them all. Mr Niyazov has spent lavishly on palaces and statues of himself, while his people live in poverty. He has had a meteorite named after him, banned make-up for TV presenters and opened a medical centre for horses in a country where many people are denied basic health care. Yesterday, parliament awarded him the "Ruhnama" medal, named after a book he wrote on moral guidance which is compulsory reading in school and university exams and driving tests. |