2007 elections in Turkmenistan. Photo by Bohan Shen.
The rubber-stamp parliament of Belarus is going to send representatives as part of the CIS monitoring team to observe the presidential elections in Turkmenistan on February 12.
I'm stocking up on chips and diet Coke to stay up all night on the 12th as I'm sure it's going to be a squeaker...NOT!
The state news agency Belta reports today:
Deputy Chairperson of the Permanent Commission for Education, Culture, Science and Sci-Tech Progress of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Galina Yurgelevich will take part in the observation of the presidential election in Turkmenistan.
She might as well write her report right now -- we all know what it will say.
Belastan, of course, is the place where the rival presidential candidates Andrei Sannikov and Nikolai Statkevich are still in prison a year after fraudulent elections as are many others associated with the opposition campaigns.
It's where a docile coopted opposition is now announcing they'll take part in parliamentary elections, even though they're entirely controlled and their fellow opposition leaders are in prison. Yuck. Where is that human solidarity we used to see in Poland?
The CIS gang will naturally go with their "special understanding" of local conditions (i.e. gas deposits) and call it in favour of the current "Turkmenbashi" or head of all Turkmens -- the Protector (Arkadag) as they call him -- Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.
Running against him are the Russian fairy-tale equivalent of the 7 dwarfs, as human rights defender Natalya Shabants has called them ("the wolf and the seven goats" is even more evocative in Russian, fergananews.com reports.
Annasoltan has also called out the GONGO nature of it all, although usually "GONGO" means NGOs that are fake-created by the state, not parties -- but the concept is the same.
To help the Turkmens fake up their election, Nikolai Lozovik of Belarus' Central Election Commission will also travel to Ashgabat and another CEC member from Vitebs, Ivan Shchurok, says Belapan. They're going to meet up with the CIS "long-term" (which hasn't been that long) mission -- OSCE isn't monitoring the election formally and didn't send any long-term observers as a result. That's going to be a point of confusion for the media as it already has been -- OSCE itself doesn't help make this crystal-clear, because they send a "Limited Assessment Mission" which then sounds like "monitors" anyway. They'd be more helpful just not sending anyone. It really isn't necessary. We get it.
Like the old joke, "Vote early and often!" the CIS monitors are already watching the early presidential election votes.
Neweurasia is putting out a call to everyone to help monitor the elections and send them pictures (and they will even help you get a licensing fee! Whee! Don't spend your $27.32 all in one place!)
I do hope some brave citizen-journalists do come forward and what's more, do get licensing fees which they more than deserve (and that's why I wish we had a nice "PAYME" website to use microcurrency to instantly pay photographers and authors for pictures and stories and tip those we like -- if anybody is interested in working with me to code such a thing, write me. Creative Communism just doesn't pay the bills.)
Realistically, the Turkmen secret police will have everything pretty bottled up, and we are likely to see photos like those of the last elections with Turkmenbashi beaming in the corner encouraging people to vote for the one party's candidates.
