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.

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--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

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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