Turkmenistan's President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has pledged to hold a fair presidential election and invited exiled opposition groups to take part, Reuters reports.
Berdymukhamedov, 54, was swiftly elected president in February 2007, shortly after the sudden death of his autocratic predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov who ruled the secretive nation for more than two decades. After this election the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said this "could hardly be called elections and they were not absolutely free and fair".
Berdymukhamedov has put in place some long-delayed economic reforms and has given local businesses more economic freedom. But in the run-up to the February 2012 election, the country remains one of the most repressive and reclusive in the world. "We are ready for dialogue with groups calling themselves 'opposition'," Berdymukhamedov, widely expected to easily win another five-year term in February, told his cabinet on Friday in a speech published by state media on Saturday.
"If someone of their representatives wants to take part in the forthcoming presidential election, he can safely come to Turkmenistan. I guarantee that ... equal conditions and opportunities will be created for them to run in the election."
Leading Turkmenistan's only political party, Berdymukhamedov has also said he was open to the creation of opposition parties. But in his speech to the cabinet, he said: "We will not support the unjustified multiplication of numerous parties." "I believe ... it would suffice to have just two efficiently working parties which would enjoy the support and respect of popular masses," he added.
While extolling Turkmenistan's economic achievements and pledging more openness, Berdymukhamedov's speech made no mention of a series of powerful explosions that rocked the town of Abadan near the capital Ashgabat on Thursday.
The opposition said on its Internet sites there had been numerous deaths and large-scale destruction caused by blasts at a local ammunition depot. The authorities said a storage facility with fireworks had detonated and there were no casualties.
