Serdar Berdimuhamedow becomes Turkmen president-elect - CEC

ASHGABAT. March 15 (Interfax) - A tally of all ballots cast in Turkmenistan's March 12 presidential elections shows that Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Berdimuhamedow, the son of the country's incumbent President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, has won the elections, receiving 72.97% of the vote, the Turkmen Central Elections Commission (CEC) said on its website on Tuesday.

Voter turnout stood at 97.17%, or 3,362,052 eligible voters, when the polling stations closed at 7:00 p.m. local time on March 12, the CEC said.

Out of the other eight candidates running in the elections, Khydyr Nunnayev, provost for research at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports, is in second place with 11.09% of the vote, the CEC said.

All other presidential candidates have received from 1% to 7.2% of the vote.

"In accordance with Article 76 of the Electoral Code of Turkmenistan and on the basis of the Central Elections Commission's March 14, 2022, resolution, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, who has received 72.97% of the vote, becomes the president-elect of Turkmenistan," it said.

The inauguration ceremony will take place at the Oguzkhan Presidential Palace on March 19.  

Serdar Berdimuhamedow was born in Ashgabat on September 22, 1981. He studied at the Turkmen Agriculture University named after Saparmurat Niyazov from 1997 to 2001, receiving a degree in production engineering. He served in the Armed Forces from 2001-2003.

In 2011, Serdar Berdimuhamedow graduated from the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy with a degree in international relations. He then worked as a counselor at the Turkmen embassy to Russia. From 2011 to 2013, he held the post of advisor to Turkmenistan's permanent mission to the UN Office in Geneva.  

In 2016-2017, Serdar Berdimuhamedow headed the Turkmen Foreign Ministry's international information department. In 2018-2019, he held the post of deputy foreign minister of Turkmenistan, and in 2020-2021 he served as the country's minister of industry and construction.

He served as Turkmen deputy prime minister, chairman of the Supreme Control Chamber of Turkmenistan, and a member of the Turkmen State Security Council from February to July 2021, when he was appointed deputy prime minister for economy, banks and international financial organizations.