Woman votes in Turkmen elections, February 12, 2012
Turnout in the entirely choreographed and tightly controlled Turkmen elections was a historic 96.28 percent, making President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov the world leader with the greatest mandate from his people (because virtually all of them seem to have voted for him).
Or...the leader of the world with the greatest control over his population. Something like three million people out of the nearly five million total population in Turkmenistan were said to be registered to vote, an miraculously, 96.28% of them were all able to brave a cold snap in the region and their own internal misgivings about a completely fake system, and cast their votes. Or at least, this is the story the official government website published.
There was some dissent, however. Some people who stayed home. Or some people who spoiled their ballots. Even this official news article tells the story:
94.20% voted in Ashgabat
96.23% voted in Ahal velayat
96.15% voted in Balkan velayat
96.46% in Dashoguz velayat
96.43% in Lebap velayat
96.96% in Mary velayat
OK, so in Moscow, sure, the bloggers and Facebookers and Tweeters turn out 50,000, even 100,000 demonstrators in the street against fraudulent elections. But that's Moscow.
In Ashgabat, God is in his heaven, but the Tsar is very close. So in the white-marbled capital, if you get a whopping 2.08% less turnout than the national aggregated total, that is how the dissent is manifested. You have to worry about some of those 2.08% possibly cowering in their high-rises now, worrying if the MNB is going to come in the door any minute and haul them off to jail for not performing their civic duty.
Oh, and look at that stronghold of resistance, Balkan velayat. You have to imagine heads are rolling this evening. Only 96.15%! such slackers! Saboteurs!
In the US, dissidents claim they represent "the 99%". In Turkmenistan, the 2.08% is as good as it gets -- and don't laugh, that's a lot of brave souls. Yes, this means something -- if in the capital, where the agitation was greatest, where transportation was most convenient (no riding camels for miles to the voting booth), where people likely have the most education and watch the most television -- and this, this embarrassing result. This defiance.
I think now Berdymukhamedov can brag to his neighbours that he has had the largest turnout in the region. Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev swept to power with only 95.5%. Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov obtained only 90.6% turnout and only 88.1% of the vote.
But you have to know Berdymukhamedov is worried about those intellectuals in the cafes in Ashgabat. Those instigators and trouble-makers that should have been sent out to collect the harvest instead of stirring up all this trouble!
Remember that figure: 2.08%. They're the ones to watch!
They weren't among the 2.08% resisters. But their brothers and sisters might be!
