Businessmen may usher in new party

ASHGABAT - The Associated Press

President Gurbanguli Berdymuhamedov controls all aspects of politics in the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan.

A union of entrepreneurs in the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has announced plans to create a political party in a move that could pave the way for the formal end to the presidential party’s monopoly in parliament.

Union member Tashli Bayriyev said yesterday that membership will be open to all-comers and that the party will represent the interests of the business community.

Only one political party to date

Only one party, the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, has been legally registered since the country gained independence amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

President Gurbanguli Berdymuhamedov controls all aspects of politics in the authoritarian nation.
The addition of what is likely to be a pro-government party is unlikely to radically change the political landscape. Turkmenistan’s Parliamentary elections are scheduled for late 2013.