ASHGABAT (Reuters) – Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the son of outgoing Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, won a snap election with 73% of the vote and will succeed his father, the Central Asian nation’s Central Election Commission said on Tuesday.
The victory of 40-year-old Serdar Berdymukhamedov was widely expected after his father elevated him to the No.2 position in the country as a deputy prime minister, clearly indicating that he was the designated successor.
There are no strong political opposition groups in the gas-rich desert nation of six million which borders Iran and Afghanistan in the south.
Eight other candidates ran in the election, some of them largely unknown low-level public servants. Under the Turkmen constitution, the president is elected for a seven-year term.
Serdar Berdymukhamedov is commonly referred to by local media as “the son of the nation,” while his 64-year-old father – who intends to stay on as the speaker of the upper house – is known as Arkadag, or Protector.
(Reporting by Marat Gurt; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
