At the invitation of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan (Central Election Commission) and the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Observer Mission from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (Mission) monitored the preparations for and the course of elections for the Mejilis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan, Khalk maslakhaty (People's Councils) of velayats (regions), etraps (districts) and cities, and to the Gengeshi (local self-governments) from 20 to 26 March 2018.
The Mission sees the invitation of international monitors as the Turkmenistan leaders' commitment to ensuring maximum openness, transparency and democratic character of the elections.
1. The Mission's Composition
The Mission included 15 accredited monitors representing legislative, executive and election agencies from the SCO member states as well as SCO Secretariat officials. The Mission was led by SCO Deputy Secretary-General Nurlan Akkoshkarov.
From the Republic of Kazakhstan: Saule Kozubayeva, Assistant Chairperson for International Cooperation of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Dauren Iskakov, Deputy Department Head, Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
From the People's Republic of China: Sheng Jiuye, Second Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China;
From the Kyrgyz Republic: Almaz Asanaliyev, member of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Kyrgyz Republic; Gulnara Baatyrova, member of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Kyrgyz Republic;
From the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Murad Ashraf Janjua, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Turkmenistan;
From the Russian Federation: Gajimurad Omarov, member, Committee on International Affairs of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Yury Demyanenko, deputy department head, Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation;
From the Republic of Tajikistan: Olima Yormatova, member, Central Commission for Elections and Referendums of the Republic of Tajikistan;
From the Republic of Uzbekistan: Sayora Baratova, Senator, member of the Committee for Defence and Security, Senate, Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
From the SCO Secretariat: Gulkaiyir Balbayeva, Senior Expert; Liu Yi and Gaukhar Abdirova, second category experts.
2. The Mission's Activities
In performing its functions, the Mission was guided by the Statute of SCO Observer Mission at Presidential and/or Parliamentary Elections as well as Referendums and abided by the principles of political neutrality, objectiveness, impartiality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states and in the electoral process, in strict compliance with Turkmenistan's national legislation.
The Mission was doing its work in accordance with the SCO Secretariat's Concept of Operations by SCO Observer Missions at the Elections for the Mejilis (Parliament) of Turkmenistan, Khalk Maslakhaty (People's Councils) of velayats (regions), etraps (districts) and cities, and for the Gengeshi (local self-governments) on 25 March 2018.
The Mission's head and members held a number of meetings and discussions with the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Central Election Commission, heads and members of election commissions, national monitors, media representatives, and heads and members of monitoring missions sent by international organisations. The necessary conditions were created for the Mission to monitor the preparations for and the course of elections, which testifies to the openness and transparency of the election process.
The Mission's members were familiarised with the details of the Central Election Commission's effort to prepare and hold the elections, including at Turkmenistan diplomatic missions abroad.
All of the Mission's inferences and conclusions are based on an analysis of Turkmenistan's election legislation conducted by the Mission members, their personal observations and factual material collected during preparations for the elections and directly on the election day.
3. Legislative Foundations for the Elections
The foundation of Turkmenistan's legislation for elections is determined by the Constitution of Turkmenistan, the Election Code of Turkmenistan and other legal standards of the republic.

On November 25, 2017, in accordance with Article 81 of the Constitution of Turkmenistan and Article 4 of the Election Code, Turkmenistan passed a resolution on appointing March 25, 2018 election day for the deputies to the Mejilis (Parliament) of the sixth convocation, members of the regions, districts and cities People's Councils of the fourth convocation and the Gengeshis of the eighth convocation in Turkmenistan.
Under the introduced amendments, elections at all levels (national, regional and local) were held on the single voting day for the first time.

The Mission notes that the amendments introduced into the country's election legislation in the past few years have brought it into compliance with the universally recognised standards of international law as regards the democratisation of elections and have created a firm legal foundation for ensuring a free and open expression of the will of the voters.
The Mission states that Turkmenistan has created the necessary conditions at the legislative level for the participants to take part in the voting process, and guarantees the rights and opportunity to freely vote or abstain from voting, be elected or elect on an impartial basis by universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. The Mission notes that the alternative character of the election was determined by the appointment of candidates from three parties — the Democratic Party, the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Agrarian Party, and also from groups of citizens that enable the voters to elect the most qualified candidates to parliament.
The Mission states that these facts point to the full implementation of Article 17 of the new version of the Constitution, according to which Turkmenistan recognises and adheres in practice to political diversity and the multi-party system.
4. Candidates for deputies of the Mejilis, members of region, district and city People's Councils of the fourth convocation and members of Gengeshes
In all, 16,558 candidates were nominated:
— 284 were nominated as deputies to the national parliament, including 169 candidates from political parties and 116 candidates from groups of citizens; 489 candidates were nominated to become members of the People's Council at the provincial level and the city of Ashgabat, 2,570 candidates to the People's Council at the district and city level, and 13,215 candidates to the members of Gengeshes.
The candidates were qualified specialists of all economic branches and represent different ethnic communities.
The Mission notes that the nomination and registration of candidates was conducted on an equitable, open and free foundation while observing the requirements of national law.
5. Election campaign
In accordance with the Electoral Code, equal campaign conditions were created for the candidates.
The Mission notes that the campaigns fully complied with the legislation of Turkmenistan and were characterised by openness, broad-scale public awareness and versatile media coverage.
The candidates had an equal amount of free daily airtime, no less than an hour in total, on state-run TV and radio channels between 7 pm and 11 pm. Printed campaign materials were circulated in each polling district.
The candidates' pre-election platforms received equal coverage in the media as stipulated by election laws.
The candidates had equal opportunities for meetings with voters and for campaign rallies, during which campaign materials were distributed and pre-election platforms of the candidates running for parliament, the Mejilis, for Khalk Maslakhaty in the velayats, etraps and cities and for the Gengeshis were explained. Meetings with candidates and their campaign agents took place in all velayats, etraps and cities and in the capital, and were broadly covered by national and regional television and radio stations.
The Central Election Commission did much to keep the public informed about the election campaign.
The Mission received no complaints or remarks with regard to election campaigns, including media activities.
6. Preparations for the Elections
The Mission notes that the Central Election Commission (CEC) and local election commissions at all levels performed a great deal of complicated work to ensure the rights of voters as part of the CEC's action plan on properly preparing and holding the elections.
A total of 125 Mejilis deputies were to be elected across the country. As many as 240 polling districts were set up for Khalk Maslakhaty elections in velayats, 40 in each velayat and in the capital Ashgabat. As many as 1,200 polling districts were set up for Khalk Maslakhaty elections in etraps and cities, 20 in each etrap and city.
A total of 125 regional election commissions and 2,604 district election commissions were created, including 39 commissions at Turkmenistan's embassies and consulates abroad. The commissions were equipped with communications and had the necessary guidance and information materials.
The number of registered voters totalled 3,289,979. Voter lists were publicly available at polling sites within no less than 15 days and at Turkmenistan's diplomatic missions abroad no less than five days ahead of the elections. Any voter had the right to file a complaint with a local election commission if his or her name was not included or was incorrectly included in or excluded from a voter list, or if the voter information contained any mistakes. Additional voter lists were drawn up by local election commissions for those citizens of Turkmenistan, who, for some reason or another, had not been included on official voter lists.
CEC meetings were attended by responsible representatives of national observers from the central bodies of political parties and public organisations, members of working groups within the CEC's framework and media representatives. The agenda of and resolutions adopted at CEC meetings were published on the CEC's website and in the media.
Election laws and regulations, news items on election topics, instructions, recommendations and sourcebooks were available on the CEC's website. For example, the CEC prepared and published Guidelines for Nominating a Candidate, Guidelines for District Election Commissions, Guidelines for the Election Commissions of Velayats and the Ashgabat City Election Commission, Guidelines for the Election Commissions of Etraps and Cities, Memo for Foreign (International) Observers and Memo for Media Representatives in Turkmen and Russian. Some of the materials were also available in English.
Videos and podcasts explaining the procedure for early voting and voting on election day and how to fill out a ballot were broadcast on national television and over the radio.
Information materials on the candidates (their biographies and pre-election platforms) were ordered by the CEC and deployed on billboards at public places.
The election theme was widely covered by central and regional media and on current affairs programmes on television.
In January, educational seminars were held with the participation of CEC members and Mejilis deputies for members of the election commissions in velayats, in Ashgabat, in etraps, cities and districts, and the heads of committees of political parties in velayats and Ashgabat.
In February-March 2018, CEC staff members organised educational seminars for local election commissions in etraps, towns and gengeshliks, polling site commissions, national observers and media representatives.
7. Early vote
According to Article 73 of the Election Code, people eligible to vote who planned to be away from their place of residence on election day had the right to vote early at a polling station. An early vote was held 10 days ahead of the elections in the presence of at least two members of a district election commission. To cast a vote, citizens placed their ballot into a ballot box, which had been previously sealed.
8. Election day
Members of the Mission arrived at the polling stations before they opened on election day and watched the preparations. They monitored the elections in six administrative and territorial entities across the country, including the city of Ashgabat and all five velayats [regions].
For monitoring purposes, the Mission visited 224 polling stations in the cities of Ashgabat, Mary, Balkanabat, Turkmenabat and Dasoguz and villages in the Ahal, Mary, Balkan, Lebap and Dasoguz velayats.
The Mission did not announce a plan to visit specific polling stations and did not coordinate its visits with executive authorities or election bodies. Each member of the Mission was free to choose which polling station he or she would go to. Members of the Mission could visit any polling station unimpeded.
The Mission notes the involvement of people in the election, including a high youth turn-out. Special care was taken for senior citizens and people who were voting for the first time.
The members of the election commissions created conditions necessary for the voting procedure, gave exhaustive answers to voters' questions and were responsive and attentive to voters, as well as local and international observers.
The work of the election commissions can be described as competent, open, transparent and independent.
This was the first time in elections that CCTV cameras were installed at the polling stations across the velayats and in the city of Ashgabat, while the voting process was broadcast live on the Central Election Commission's website saylav.gov.tm.
The election was broadcast live on 25 March 2018 from 7 am until 7 pm, and, according to the Central Election Commission, was watched by 24,377 people.
The election commissions had communication facilities and office equipment and offered full information on the candidates, lists of voters, election observer registers, methodical guides, polling station evacuation plans and other documents. Many polling stations had first-aid posts.
The voting process was calm at the polling stations in keeping with the established procedure and in the presence of local observers from political parties, groups of citizens, civic associations and candidates, as well as international observers and the media.
The members of the Mission remained at the polling stations when they closed and watched the vote count and how the election commissions signed the election result protocols.
The Mission received no complaints or critical comments regarding the voting procedure.
At the same time, the Mission recorded isolated cases of technical violations, which were not system-wide and could not have influenced the election results.
9. Main conclusions
The Mission states that the elections for the Mejшlis of Turkmenistan, Khalk Maslakhaty in the velayats, etraps and cities and the Gegenshis were in compliance with the requirements of Turkmenistan's election laws and international obligations.
The Mission found no violations that would bring into question the legitimacy of the elections.
The Mission recognises the elections as transparent, free, credible and democratic.
The Mission states that these elections are an important step on the path of the country's ongoing democratic development and towards bolstering the independence, sovereignty and the permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, recognised by the international community, as well as new achievements in all areas of social life and national development.
The Observer Mission from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation expresses gratitude to the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums in Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and other organisations and institutions for their comprehensive assistance and practical help during the work of the Mission.
 
The Observer Mission from the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,
March 26, 2018, Ashgabat