TURKMENISTAN PUBLISHES DRAFT CONSTITUTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 000963 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN; DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN PUBLISHES DRAFT CONSTITUTION Classified By: Charge Sylvia R. Curran for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On July 22, state media published the new draft constitution, now under consideration by the parliament. Post's initial examination of the draft seems to indicate that while a few minor tweaks and some rewording have taken place, the draft largely resembles the country's 1992 constitution. Those working on the draft were not given much time to put something together, so they may have decided that it would be best just to go back to the original. One significant change, however, is the removal of the Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) body as the central legislative authority in the country, with the parliament taking on that role instead. END SUMMARY. ROLE OF PARLIAMENT EXPANDS ¶2. (C) The role of the National Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) as the country's main legislative body has been removed, and almost all references to its responsibilities have shifted to the parliament. Regional Halk Maslahaty bodies, however, will continue to play a role in local government. Additionally, personal immunity will be extended to parliamentary deputies (Article 68),although the following article notes that a deputy could still be subject to criminal proceedings if the parliamentary body consents to it. Another article would change the vote to elect the chairman of parliament from an open vote to a secret one. ¶3. (C) A new article in the section on the parliament's responsibilities (Article 65) will permit the parliament to transfer its right to consider legislation on certain issues to the president, although the parliament would still have mandatory approval authority afterward. However, the body would not be permitted to transfer its responsibilities in such a way on issues relating to constitutional amendments, criminal or administrative legislation, or the legal process. PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY ¶4. (C) Article 54 of the chapter on the president includes new text confirming the president's authority to establish the Central Election Commission and appoint its members. It also contains new text on the establishment and chairing of a State Security Council (although the council has existed previously). Governmental authority over issues of changing administrative or territorial divisions in the country, which belonged to the legislative branch in the past, will now belong to the president. ¶5. (C) Article 58 contains new language on methods for the transfer of presidential powers, to include reasons of health or no-confidence in the president. The text is largely identical to the 1992 constitution, but in the case of a two-third no-confidence vote by parliament, the president's dismissal will be put to a national referendum. The line of presidential succession is largely unchanged from the 1992 edition, in which the National Security Council will appoint a deputy chairman of the cabinet of ministers to be the acting president until an election is held. However, the individual chosen to be acting president for this 60 day period will now be excluded from his own presidential candidacy (COMMENT: The current constitution prohibited the acting president, in this case the Speaker of the Parliament, from being a presidential candidate. In the December 2006 succession, someone other then the Speaker was chosen as acting president, and the Halk Maslahaty voted to allow him to be a presidential candidate. END COMMENT.) KEY AREAS UNCHANGED SINCE 1992 ¶6. (C) The following articles remain unchanged: --A Turkmenistan citizen is not recognized as holding the citizenship of another state. ASHGABAT 00000963 002 OF 003 --Article 12 on the freedom of religion remains unchanged. --Article 27 on the freedom of movement remains unchanged, and avoids language regarding the freedom to travel abroad. --Articles 29 and 30 are unchanged in their general statements on the freedoms of expression and assembly. --Article 31 on citizens' right to establish political parties remains unchanged. --Article 42 is unchanged, in asserting a continued military conscription system, without exceptions. --The strict requirements for presidential candidacy are unchanged, including the ability to speak the state language, birth in the country, permanent residency in Turkmenistan for the last 15 years, and a record of government or national economic entity employment, to name a few. The presidential term will be five years, but there is no mention of the number of terms a president can serve, and the June 2007 Law on the President also does not specify term limits. On the plus side, the parliament will not approve presidential candidates. --The section addressing the electoral system contains no changes at all. --The section on judicial authority likewise contains no changes, other than a general prohibition on forming emergency courts or other structures endowed with judicial powers. NEW OR REVISED AMENDMENTS ¶7. (C) A new article in the first section of the draft has been added (Article 10),stating the country's goal in promoting a market-oriented economy, to include private ownership and promotion of small and medium business development. Oddly, a new article was added to the "basic rights" section, asserting the government's control over and "rational use of" the country's natural resources (Article 37). ¶8. (C) Revised chapters on the powers and responsibilities of regional representative bodies and local governments contain more information than prior versions of the constitution, but to be more a description of organizational structure and lines of authority, which are largely unchanged. ¶9. (C) The "final provisions" section is largely unchanged, but does provide a national referendum option for considering adoption of constitutional amendments. Approval by more than 50 percent of Turkmenistan's voters will constitute adoption of such amendments. (NOTE: Public access to voter records would have to be permitted in order to determine how many voters that would actually be. END NOTE.) AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT ¶10. (C) There were several items, dealing with executive, legislative, and judicial power, that we and colleagues from other embassies view as possible areas where the constitution could be improved before finalization: -- Article 52 - President is limited to someone currently "serving in state bodies, NGOs or national economy branches, has won high respect and recognized as being deserved for the election." This would seem severely limit candidates for president and likely would be restricted to currently serving high-level government officials. -- Article 53 - No presidential term limits. -- Articles 54 and 103 - The president appoints and dismisses the Chairman of the Supreme Court and appoints all judges, which makes the judiciary an adjunct of the executive. -- Article 64 - The parliament determines if (its own) laws are constitutional or not. -- Article 65 - The parliament can transfer the right to ASHGABAT 00000963 003 OF 003 issue laws on certain issues to the president. ¶10. (C) COMMENT: The removal of the ungainly, disorganized and passive Halk Maslahaty represents a step forward, especially as the parliament continues to plunge through revisions of much of the national legislation. Most of the rest of the document appears to be a copy of the 1992 constitution. Those working on the draft were not given much time to put something together, so they may have decided that it would be best just to go back to the original. END COMMENT. CURRAN