Ashgabat, 3 May 2010 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkmenistan and the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (NIDHR) presented the draft Electoral Code of Turkmenistan at a round table organized on 30 April 2010 within the framework of the UNDP Project “Enhancing Electoral System and Processes in Turkmenistan.” The Electoral Code was drafted by the working group comprising of experts from various government departments and institutions with the support of UNDP’s international expert on electoral law Mr. Daniel Finn.

The round table brought together representatives of the working group as well as members of the national parliament, the NIDHR, the Supreme Court, the Central Election Commission, district election commissions and election commission of the city of Ashgabat, who are seen as major stakeholders in the process of improving the electoral laws in Turkmenistan.

The round table was opened by NIDHR Director Yazdursun Gurbannazarova and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Narine Sahakyan who shared the view that the draft Electoral Code is a very important achievement, although one must be clear that this is only the beginning of painstaking legislative work. According to Narine Sahakyan, “all concerned government institutions and the Turkmen public should continue discussing this draft with the view of subsequently submitting it to the Mejlis of Turkmenistan for consideration.”

In his presentation, the UNDP international expert emphasized that the process of codification of Turkmenistan’s electoral laws was based on the international standards and best practices. He noted that the Electoral Code is not a requirement, yet it is still considered best practice because codification helps to consolidate relevant electoral laws into a single document and reduce inconsistencies in the legal framework. He underscored that codification contributes to harmonization of various electoral laws to avoid duplications and provide further opportunities to make relevant changes and amendments, if necessary, as it is an ongoing process. In this regard, his recommendation was that Turkmenistan should carefully select the most suitable international practices for adaptation in the local context.

In the ensuing discussions, the round table participants agreed that the draft Electoral Code should be also shared with election practitioners at the local level whose feedback is very important for the adoption of a comprehensive Electoral Code. In fact, their first hand experience of electoral processes in Turkmenistan was very helpful in fine-tuning the Manual for members of election commissions developed earlier as part of the UNDP project.  In the similar vein, the draft Electoral Code should be scrutinized by all stakeholders before it can be sent to the Mejlis for further action.

As of today, the UNDP Project “Enhancing Electoral System and Processes in Turkmenistan” has implemented a wide range of activities in partnership with the National Institute of Democracy and Human Rights and the Central Election Commission of Turkmenistan. They include training of all 250 regional and district election commission members, who subsequently trained over 18,000 members of the precinct-level election commissions. The project also produced 10,000 civic and voter education brochures on principles of democratic elections before the parliamentary election in December 2008. The project conducted trainings for election candidates and domestic observers ahead of elections to local councils in Turkmenistan.

The UNDP Project “Enhancing Electoral System and Processes in Turkmenistan” was launched in 2008. The project is being implemented by UNDP in partnership with the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights with the financial support of the Government of Norway. The project aims at providing technical support to the government of Turkmenistan with the view of deepening democratic processes and reforms pursued by Turkmenistan. The purpose of technical support is to expose the state institutions of Turkmenistan to relevant international experience to enhance the electoral system and processes in Turkmenistan.