Turkmen pres for new parties apart from nationalist and religious.

30/9 Tass 283

ASHGABAT, September 30 (Itar-Tass) - Turkmenistan bans nationalist and
religious parties as well as political parties, advertising war, violence
and overthrow of the constitutional system.
This warning was made by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov,
speaking at a briefing on Thursday.
The head of state said that he does not see any other special reasons,
interfering with establishing new political parties and the private mass
media. He noted at the same time that "foundation of new parties is a very
serious question and needs thoughtful approach".
"The state acclaims rather than staves off the creation of new
political parties and newspapers. The main thing is that they should help
the development of spiritual values of our people," the president noted.
"The recent appearance of the first private newspaper-that of the country'
s businessmen - shows that Turkmenistan moves along the democratic road,"
Berdymukhamedov noted.
Last May, members of the Turkmen Council of Elders backed a proposal
by the president at their meeting on transition from a one-party to a
multi-party system. At the time, the president suggested "organising a
party of peasants" and instructed the parliament "to draft a bill on
political parties".
There is only one political force - the Democratic Party (created
after the self-dissolution of the Communist Party in 1991) during the 19
years of Turkmenistan's independence. The country's presidents were its
leaders, while the party's membership was no more than 150,000.
Berdymukhamedov, winning the presidential post in February 2007, was
elected chairman of the Political Council of the Democratic Party already
in August as well as chairman of the nation-wide movement Revival, uniting
all non-government organisations of the country.
-0-bur


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