I. PROKLOV

Postgraduate Institute of Oriental studies RAS

Turkmenistan in the modern mass consciousness is most often associated with the personality cult of its late leader, President Saparmurat Niyazov, better known as "Turkmenbashi". Despite the fact that the Basic Law proclaimed Turkmenistan to be a democratic and legal state, until recently, power in the country in many ways resembled the systems created by Stalin, Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung: the same reverence bordering on deification, the same unlimited monopoly on power.

Turkmenistan, without any doubt, was a rare exception even to the political practice of the countries of post-Soviet Central Asia (indeed, like all the states of the former Soviet Union). All spheres of public, political and economic life were under the personal control of the Head of State. A series of presidential decrees banned smoking, closed rural hospitals, renamed the names of days of the week and months, reduced the duration of secondary and higher education, included the study of the president's own book in the curriculum, and banned opera and ballet, which the president considered alien to Turkmen culture.

Meanwhile, the Constitution of Turkmenistan enshrined the secular nature of the State and guaranteed fundamental human rights, proclaiming the individual as the highest value of society and the State.

ONE-MAN RULE SYSTEM

The Basic Law establishes state government in the form of a presidential republic (Article 1)¹. The first presidential elections of Turkmenistan were held before the dissolution of the USSR-on October 21, 1990. After gaining independence and approving the Constitution, S. Niyazov, trying to show that his legitimacy is now based on legal acts not related to the USSR, defiantly organized June 21, 1992 G. new, uncontested presidential elections. At them, S. A. Niyazov was unanimously elected President of the country. At the same time, Khalk Maslahaty (People's Council) - the highest representative and legislative body of power - gave him the honorary name of Turkmenbashi, which means "Head of the Turkmens". As a result of the referendum held on January 15, 1994, his term of office was extended.

Having gained power in the Soviet era, Niyazov actually continued its traditions, not allowing other options for development. The referendum can be considered a milestone in the development of the country's political system, as it clearly outlined the general direction-to identify the presidential power with one specific person. S. Niyazov concentrated several top state posts in his hands. In addition to the post of President and head of the Cabinet of Ministers, he served as chairman of the Khalk Maslahaty, chairman of the only Democratic Party in the republic and the National Movement " Galkynysh "("Revival").

It is significant that the lack of an alternative to the election of the first president reveals the essence of the Turkmen establishment's approach to democratic elections.

The election of the second president in February 2007 was no exception. In connection with the sudden death of Niyazov in December 2006. Although 6 candidates for the post of president participated in them, there is no need to talk about any electoral process, since no one doubted the victory of the "right" candidate Gurbangulla Berdimuhammedov, Vice-President of the Russian Federation.Prime Minister of the government under S. Niyazov.

A brief political history of the new Turkmenistan shows that for the supreme power, elections are not a mechanism of democracy, but a decorative attribute of the one-man rule system. Using this system of political power, Niyazov at one time quite "legitimately" removed the question of any presidential elections. On December 28, 1999, the Khalk Maslahaty made a "historic" decision granting Saparmurat Turkmenbashi the right to exercise the powers of the President of Turkmenistan without term limits.

This" free " treatment of the Basic Law was continued by Niyazov's successors. The procedure prescribed in the constitution for the transfer of power in the event of the inability of the first person to perform his functions was grossly violated, which gave the opposition reason to declare the clearly unconstitutional seizure of power by G. Berdymukhammedov and the heads of law enforcement agencies.

According to the Constitution of Turkmenistan (Article 61, part 2), " if the President is unable to perform his duties for one reason or another, his powers are transferred to the Chairman of the Mejlis (Parliament) until the election of a new President. In this case, presidential elections must be held no later than two months from the date of transfer of his powers to the Chairman of the Mejlis. A person acting as President may not run for office as a presidential candidate." It follows that the chairman of the Mejlis Ovezgeldy Atayev was to become the acting president. However, previously the Security Council was an advisory body under the President of Turkmenistan -

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In fact, it turned into the highest executive body of state power and decided to appoint Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov as acting president, and O. Atayev was dismissed "by the Niyazov method", he was simply arrested on an unsubstantiated charge that was quickly brought against him.

Thus, the Constitution was once again violated, since the issue of revoking the powers of the Chairman of the Mejlis is exclusively under the jurisdiction of this legislative body.

Only after all this, a meeting of the Mejlis was convened, where the Prosecutor General reported to the deputies about the criminal case initiated against O. Atayev. Thus, the Prosecutor General's Office, called by the Constitution (Article 110)² to monitor the exact observance of laws on the territory of Turkmenistan, if it has clearly violated them, because in accordance with Article 70 "a deputy of the Mejlis may not be held criminally liable, arrested or otherwise deprived of liberty without the consent of the Mejlis".

DEMOCRACY-WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF AUTHORITARIANISM

Further actions to legitimize the authorities were predictable and were confirmed at the meeting of the Khalk Maslahaty held on December 26, 2006, where a number of political decisions were adopted, in particular, the law on amendments and additions to the Constitution of Turkmenistan.

Khalk Maslahaty plays an important role in the political system of Turkmenistan. As a basis for its formation as a representative and legislative body, Niyazov proposed the idea of recreating a system of governance that corresponds to the national traditions of Turkmens, which, if this body is manageable, on the one hand, creates the appearance of "popular" democracy, and on the other, allows the head of state to give legitimacy to any of his decisions. However, upon closer examination, the Khalk Maslahaty does not fit into the modern scheme of separation of powers and is fraught with many "traps"for the new leadership of the country.

According to the Constitution, Khalk Maslahaty is convened as necessary, but at least once a year on the initiative of the President, the Mejlis or one-third of its members. The Khalk Maslahaty, which consists of more than 2,500 members, includes the President of the country, deputies of the Mejlis (parliament), the Chairman of the Supreme Kazyet (court), the Prosecutor General, members of the Cabinet of Ministers, hyakims (heads of administrations) of velayats (regions) and the city of Ashgabat, khalk vekilleri (people's deputies representing all districts of Turkmenistan), heads of the Government of the Republic of non-governmental organizations belonging to the Galkynysh movement, heads of non - governmental organizations, representatives of elders of Turkmenistan and other heads of local government bodies, i.e., in fact, 70% are officials of various ranks. The remaining 30% are representatives of the people and clergy.

The President, the Mejlis or its Presidium, or at least one quarter of the members of the Khalk Maslahaty may submit proposals for consideration by the Khalk Maslahaty. But as practice shows, there is no specific regulation. Based on the experience of previous meetings, most of the time was spent on awarding Niyazov and praising his speeches about the achievements and prospects achieved.

The presence of the Khalk Maslahaty in the system of government bodies (Article 45) clearly contradicts Article 4 of the Constitution, which provides for the functioning of only three levels (branches) of government: legislative, executive and judicial. Khalk Maslahaty appears as another, already the fourth branch of power. The presence of such a body clearly violates the balance between the authorities, neutralizes the mechanism of checks and balances. In particular, the existence of the Khalk Maslahaty largely weakens the function of the Mejlis as a legislative body, since it appropriates the bulk of its functions and powers to the detriment of the parliament. This approach bifurcates the functions of the legislative branch and thereby weakens its influence on the executive structures and, above all, on the President and the Government.

In their daily activities, both the legislative and executive branches of government are guided by the decisions of the Khalk Maslahaty and ensure their implementation (Article 51 of the Constitution). This suggests that the decisions of this body, by their legal nature, have greater force than acts of the President and laws adopted by the Parliament, and, accordingly, are binding on the highest authorities. Thus, the Khalk Maslahaty is a body that stands above the Mejlis and the president, but is actually subordinate to the president (!).

On December 26, 2006, the Khalk Maslahaty adopted a number of political decisions and, in particular, the law on amendments and additions to the Constitution. Thus, in the amended 2nd part of Article 60, it is written:: "If the President is unable to perform his duties for one reason or another, a Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan is appointed to the post of President of Turkmenistan until a new President is elected on the basis of a decision of the Security Council." Changes were also made to Article 51, which now defines: "The chairman of the Khalk Maslahaty can be a citizen of Turkmenistan not younger than 40 years (previously not younger than 55 years. - I. P.) and not older than 70 years." And G. Berdymukhammedov was born in 1957. In addition, the new, amended text of the Constitution omits the mention that the temporary executive body of the President of the Republic of Turkmenistan is not a citizen of the Republic of Turkmenistan.-

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The acting President may not be nominated as a candidate for the highest State post.

After the official election of Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov as president in February 2007, he is automatically obliged to head the Khalk Maslahaty, which in turn will legitimize and accordingly strengthen his position as a national leader, or he will need to significantly lower the status of the People's Council if one of the "associates"takes the place of chairman. This is where the main problem of the modern political system lies.

The so-called multi-channel system of legitimation of individual decisions made by S. Niyazov (presidential, governmental, parliamentary and quasi-public ones represented by the Khalk Maslahaty) is actually unacceptable for the new leadership. Strengthening the position of the current president may be negatively perceived by possible competing groups in the struggle for real levers of power and individual sectors of the economy, which will lead to a sharp aggravation of the internal political situation in the country. The entire future scheme of power depends on how close a person is to the current President Berdymukhammedov and how "equal" in terms of available administrative resources he will be. It is possible that the new ruling elite in the future will be forced to simply abandon such a body and merge it with the parliament.

According to the Constitution, the Mejlis is the country's legislative body. It has become very compact, consisting of only 50 "people's deputies". At the same time, in the hierarchy of the highest state bodies, the Mejlis looks like a powerless structure, unable to influence other branches of government and, moreover, share the leadership of the country with the president.

First, in addition to the Mejlis, the Khalk Maslahaty and the President have the right to issue laws, which detracts from the role of the Parliament as a legislative body. Secondly, the weakness of the parliament is explained by the fact that a number of its important powers have been redistributed in favor of the Khalk Maslahaty. And, thirdly, a number of powers of the Mejlis are formal in nature. In particular, the provision on the parliament's right to amend the Constitution remains largely declarative (paragraph 1, Article 67)^.3 The fact is that the Mejlis cannot independently exercise this right, since in accordance with paragraph 1, Article 50, the expediency of changing the Constitution is considered by the Khalk Maslahat.

By the way, unlike the President, the Parliament was elected much later than the approved constitution - in December 1994. It should be noted that the elections to the Mejlis of the republic in 1999 were already alternative: several names of candidates for deputies were included in the ballots. However, then it did not break the usual result: voting ended in the first round.

The fact that the state has created a one-party system with the only Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT), transformed from the Communist Party of the republic, also looks like a clear evidence of the totalitarianism of the regime. Road accidents cannot be called a political organization in the true sense of the term. In real politics, it actually plays no role, but only serves as one of the decorations designed to "ennoble" the system of power built by Niyazov. The party's Charter stipulates loyalty to the course pursued by the authorities. The first paragraph of this document reads: "The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan is a political organization that, under the leadership of Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov (Saparmurat Turkmenbashi), aims to strengthen the independence, permanent positive neutrality of Turkmenistan, build a democratic, legal secular state and a society of justice at the junction of the XX and XXI centuries. In the era of Turkmenbashi, she builds her work under the motto: "The policy of the President of Turkmenistan the Great Saparmurat Turkmenbashi - the course of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan" ⁴.

Judicial power in Turkmenistan is exercised by the Supreme Kazyet (court) and other kazyets provided for by the country's law. The Chairman of the Supreme Kazyet reports to the Khalk Maslahaty and the President of Turkmenistan on the activities of the judicial system. Judges at all levels are appointed by the President for a five-year term.

Supervision of compliance with laws and legal acts of the President of Turkmenistan, state administration bodies, management of the Armed Forces, local self-government, participants in industrial, economic and commercial activities, organizations and institutions, public associations, officials and citizens is entrusted to the Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan and subordinate prosecutors.

However, the judicial power in the country cannot influence other branches of government, cancel decisions of the President, the Khalk Maslahaty and the Mejlis that contradict the Basic Law, since, according to the Constitution, the judicial power does not have the function of constitutional control. This circumstance makes formal the existence of a third branch of state power in the country. And the absence of a Constitutional Court in the country (it is not provided for in the new Constitution) completely removes the executive and legislative branches of government from the control of the law, which has been confirmed more than once in recent years. For example, the extension of the president's powers, the cancellation of elections contrary to the norms of the Constitution, etc.

In addition, the absence of an independent Constitutional Court objectively hinders compliance with the principles of separation of powers. There are no legal mechanisms to ensure the supremacy of international law over the domestic legislation of the country.

According to the Constitution, the Cabinet of Ministers is a collegial executive and administrative body that manages all executive and administrative bodies of Turkmenistan and ensures their coordinated activities. The Cabinet of Ministers is headed by President Turk-

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menistan. It consists of Deputy Chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers and Ministers. In practice, members of the Cabinet of Ministers only followed Niyazov's direct instructions and in fact were not independent in their decisions, since the main control levers and finances were in the hands of the president. During Niyazov's time, Cabinet meetings often turned into public accusations of incompetence and corruption, followed by dismissal "for shortcomings in their work." Thus, over the years of independence, more than 50 people have held the posts of Deputy Prime Minister, 16 of them are serving long prison terms, 8 have been forced to leave Turkmenistan and live abroad, the rest are unemployed without the right to work or are held under house arrest. Such a personnel "leapfrog" had an extremely negative impact on the efficiency of national economy management. It is noteworthy that when the new government was formed, it included functionaries who had previously fallen out of favor with S. Niyazov and were deprived of their high posts.

Local executive power - in velayats, cities and etraps (districts) is exercised by hyakims, who are local representatives of the President and are appointed by him. Just like other government officials, hyakims can be removed from their posts by the President at any time, with all the consequences that follow. In accordance with the law of Turkmenistan" On Hyakims", they are personally responsible to the President for providing the population with food and consumer goods; the state of health, education, social security; the state of law and order; the provision of water, gas, electricity and other public services; the operation of public transport, etc.

The political system of Turkmenistan is designed in such a way that, despite its external democratic appearance, it contains the most favorable conditions for making any decisions that meet the interests of the elite and at the same time contradict the interests of citizens. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to blame the elite and the state for the extra-legal nature of actions.

In the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods, a significant part of the local population lived under patriarchal conditions. The level of social claims was extremely low even in comparison with other Central Asian republics. The national intelligentsia did not constitute a significant social stratum and was almost completely subordinated to the party and state elite. Therefore, Western democratic values have not received a large number of supporters here. At the same time, the country's leadership does not hide the existence of control over all spheres of life of citizens, including elections to government bodies, the media, but motivates its actions by the peculiarities of the national character of the Turkmen people. President Niyazov, describing the peculiarities of the domestic political situation in the country, always liked to emphasize that his policy was based on Turkmen national traditions, the mentality of the people and was aimed at ensuring that all democratic institutions were organically formed on the basis of the fundamental principle of human freedom - his right to private property.

"TURKMEN MODEL OF DEMOCRACY" - A RETURN TO THE PAST?

The term "Turkmen model of democracy"⁵ was introduced in order to prove, first of all, to the world community the democratic nature of political processes in the country. At the same time, it was argued that the fundamental values of liberal democracy come into conflict with the historical traditions of the Turkmen people and their national character.

When it comes to the model of development, we mean the structure of the political system of the state and the features of its functioning. The criterion for its assessment is the ratio of the state and society. Depending on what prevails over what, it is customary to distinguish two models. The first model is the predominance of the state (state - administrative institutions) over society, and the second-society over the state.

The first model is usually considered as totalitarianism or, depending on the degree of freedom of citizens, authoritarianism, and the second-as a democratic model of development. This division, perhaps, carries a certain categoricity, since the ratio of the listed categories (state and society) may vary depending on the cultural and historical traditions, mental characteristics of the population. However, the use of other classifications and evaluation criteria is problematic. Firstly, the consideration of any variations in development models will be reduced to one question - the relationship between the state and society, and therefore to their relationship; secondly, the widely described "Turkish"," Indonesian"," South Korean", etc. development models, as recent events show, do not stand the test of time, this once again confirms the far-fetched nature of identifying such models.

It seems that the "Turkmen model" should also be considered on the basis of these criteria, i.e. from the correlation of the categories "state-society". In this case, we will find that in Turkmenistan the predominance of state-administrative institutions over society is absolute. Therefore, the validity of the term "Turkmen model of democracy" is highly questionable, since in reality there is nothing in this model that even remotely resembles democracy.

Regarding the determination of the current political situation in Turkmenistan by the specific traditions and national characteristics of Turkmens, it is necessary to note three significant points. First, there is progress (and such, of course, are democracy and pluralism) it often comes into conflict with certain elements of the tradition. In such a situation, the absolutization of the meaning of traditions is a return to the past, and not a return to the past.

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not by moving forward. Secondly, the" Turkmenbashi ideology " contradicts such values as freedom, elections, and the control of the government by the citizens of the country, i.e. those values that are universal in nature. Moreover, the benefits of these values have been proven by dozens of countries around the world. And, third, the reference to certain" national peculiarities " of Turkmens in the development of the country's political course most likely follows from ignorance of these features or their complete disregard.

Turkmens have never had the experience of statehood or cohabitation within the same State in their history. There were scattered, isolated tribes, which were conditionally united under the ethnonym "Turkmen". The almost century-long stay of Turkmens in tsarist Russia, and then the USSR, also did not lead to the formation of a nation with all its characteristic features (a single socio-cultural space, general civil self-identification, etc.). Those features of national character that are attributed to the Seljuks, Oguz and mechanically transferred to modern Turkmens are not correct. Therefore, the very concept of "national character of Turkmens" has a certain conventionality.

Being a conglomerate of nomadic tribes, the Turkmens possessed all the characteristics that were characteristic of the traditional nomads of Central Asia. In particular, they were distinguished by an extremely low level of religiosity, lack of reverence, and fanaticism. The leaders of tribes and clans were not appointed, but were chosen according to their abilities. At the same time, there were frequent cases when many refused the position of leader, because it imposed a great responsibility, and failure was considered a disgrace not only for the leader himself, but also for his family. Turkmens have always been aware of the transience of worldly vanity and therefore never raised a person to the level of an ideal during his lifetime. Public praise of a person has always been considered an unworthy phenomenon. Erecting monuments (not only to living people, but also to the dead), hanging portraits is not typical not only for Turkmens, but also for the entire East. For these reasons, the "Turkmenbashi ideology" not only does not correspond to the national character and mentality of Turkmens, but also comes into strong contradiction with them.

* * *

Gurbangulla Berdimuhamedov's first steps as president of Turkmenistan, on the one hand, inspire optimism that a person has come to power who is aware of the critical situation that has developed in the country during the almost 20-year rule of Turkmenbashi. With his first decrees, he returned full secondary and higher education to young people, and after being appointed to the post of chairman of the Khalk Maslahaty, he ordered to increase the salaries of teachers, as well as increase student scholarships by 40% from September 1, 2007. In addition, in the new position of chairman of the Khalk Maslahaty, G. Berdymukhammedov signed a number of other decrees in the field of agriculture, including In particular, purchase prices for cotton and grain have been significantly increased, which is extremely important in the context of a sharp drop in the interest of daikhan (peasant farmers) to engage in the production of these strategically important crops for the country.

The results of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's recent visit to Moscow and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin are encouraging. By Putin. Despite the reticence of comments, there is every reason to believe that the new leadership of Turkmenistan, in addition to cooperation in the gas sector, is interested in closer cooperation with Russia on a wide range of issues, including in the military and defense sphere.

A particularly significant event was the visit of Vladimir Putin to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in May 2007, during which the leaders of the three countries agreed in Turkmenbashi on the construction of the Caspian gas pipeline, which will run along the Caspian coast through the territory of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and will go to Russian territory. An agreement on this issue is expected to be signed before the end of 2007.

There is no doubt that cooperation between the three countries in the energy sector will become a strong "bridge" linking our states.

The first steps of the new President of Turkmenistan inspire hope for positive changes in the socio-political life of the republic, the implementation of which will contribute to the modernization of Turkmenistan.

¹ Constitution of Turkmenistan-Neutral Turkmenistan, 20.08.2003.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Charter of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, adopted at its congress on December 19, 1998. Ashgabat, 1999.

⁵ "Individual project of Turkmenbashi" - www.Turkmenistan.ru, 08.11.2000.

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