Parliamentary elections were held in Turkmenistan on 25 March 2018, alongside local elections.[1]
Electoral system
The 125 members of the Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting.[2] A turnout of at least 50% of registered voters is required to validate the result in a constituency, forcing a repeat of the election in it if not attained.
The 25 March elections lacked important prerequisites of a genuinely democratic electoral process. The political environment is only nominally pluralist and does not offer voters political alternatives. Exercise of fundamental freedoms is severely curtailed, inhibiting free expression of the voters’ will. Despite measures to demonstrate transparency, the integrity of elections was not ensured, leaving veracity of results in doubt.[4]
