Turkmenistan’s presidential election changes little
“ONE problem with dictators is that whatever earthly powers they wield they cannot live forever. And though they spare few thoughts for preparing a successor, another autocrat is often waiting in the wings. Turkmenistan’s former president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who died at the end of last year, ran his country in a manner rivalled only by Kim Jong Il in North Korea for dotty megalomania. Few will mourn the passing of the “father of the Turkmenâ€, but it is far from clear that brighter times lie ahead…”
