TURKMEN CITIZENS' VIEWS ON WHETHER OR NOT TO VOTE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001618

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN; DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM TX
SUBJECT: TURKMEN CITIZENS' VIEWS ON WHETHER OR NOT TO VOTE


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: December 15-18, POLOFF asked Ashgabat
and Mary city residents about their participation in the
December 14 Mejlis elections, to get a sense of how residents
perceived the first major election since President
Berdimuhamedov took office. The individuals surveyed still
generally viewed voting as more of a duty to country than a
means to insure their representation in government. For
them, there was no connection between electing
representatives and having someone represent their interests
in central government. For this and other reasons, everyone
who commented on the election was apathetic about the process
and its expected results. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) A middle-aged Ashgabat resident said she voted,
although she had not seen any information about the
candidates. She asked election workers at the poll if they
had biographical information on the candidates in her
district, but they did not have such information inside the
polling place. (NOTE: Large boards with information about
the 18 candidates running in Ashgabat's election districts
were seen in various places around the city, but were not
outside of every polling station. All candidate information
was in the Turkmen language only. END NOTE.) She voted for
the person who seemed the most distinguished in his previous
position, which she could read on the ballot. She saw only a
handful of ballots in the transparent ballot box where she
voted.


4. (SBU) A female resident in her twenties said she
received an invitation to vote, but did not vote, and was not
visited by election officials seeking her vote. Her
reasoning was that she hadn't known who her previous deputy
had been, and he had never introduced himself to district
residents or addressed issues specific to her neighborhood in
Khitrovka. She also noted that when any of the candidates
spoke on Turkmen television, their comments were always
non-specific in nature and generally referred to the
President's stated reform plans.


5. (SBU) Another woman in her thirties said she had
received an invitation as well as a call from election
officials in her district, asking her to vote, and she
decided to accommodate them. She said she went to her
polling station around 3:00 p.m., and was the only voter
there. She said the election officials were very attentive
and pleased with her visit, and treated her like a "rare
guest," offering her coffee or tea and reviewing the new
voting instructions with her. She noted that there were only
a small number of ballots in the box when she put her ballot
in. A male resident in his early thirties said he did not
vote because he had no interest in the elections. He was
certain that his parents had taken his passport and voted for
him, because they "always did their duty."


6. (SBU) A non-ethnic Turkmen woman in her forties said she
had not voted, and expressed certainty that others in her
apartment building also did not vote. She indicated that,
based on numerous conversations with fellow residents, and on
the fact that no one had known anything about the previous
Mejlis deputy that had been elected by their district, no one
believed that a new deputy would play a more significant role
in addressing issues of special interest to their district.
She did not receive a knock on her door from district
election officials seeking to collect her vote at home. In
contrast, she said that in early 2007, she and her fellow
residents had voted in the presidential election, because
they had shared some optimism that the election represented
concrete change for the country. In addition, being a dual
Russian citizen, she had gone to the Russian Embassy several
months ago to vote in the Russian presidential election. She
said she had done so because she had seen a lot of coverage
on the candidates on Russian television, and because she felt
that both the election and her vote mattered.

ASHGABAT 00001618 002 OF 002




7. (SBU) A non-ethnic Turkmen in his sixties said he and
his family and their friends and neighbors had ignored the
election completely. Although he had served as an election
commissioner in the early 1990s, he did not think that the
elections would bring any real change in those areas where it
was needed. He expressed frustration that he had seen no
biographic or platform information in the Russian language
for any of the candidates. (NOTE: Information on the
candidates was published only in provincial newspapers in the
Turkmen language. Post knows of no venue where candidate
information was published in other languages. END NOTE.) He
pointed to the December 18 edition of Neytralniy
Turkmenistan, and said he knew more about the Bulgarian
President than he did about any of the Mejlis candidates.
(NOTE: The newspaper often publishes an official biography
when heads of state visit. END NOTE.) Further, he doubted
that any non-ethnic Turkmen citizens would be elected.


8. (SBU) A taxi driver in the provincial center of Mary
said he had voted for his whole family because he is the head
of the household and that is their tradition. When asked
about his understanding of the duties and responsibilities of
a Mejlis deputy, he confessed that he did not know, nor did
he know the length of a deputy's term. He also did not know
whether a deputy elected in his district would represent the
interests and concerns of district residents. He had not
seen any biographic information about the candidates in his
district, so he looked at the addresses of the candidates
listed on the ballot, and voted for the candidate who lived
closest to him.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: All the individuals that POLOFF talked
with expressed apathy about the elections. In the absence of
confidence that the elections would have even the potential
to represent some form of change, most of these residents
found other things to do on election day. END COMMENT.
MILES