Turkmenistan , Ashgabat, Oct. 4 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmenistan has announced the beginning of the pre-election campaign leading up to the presidential elections in Turkmenistan, the Turkmen Central Election Committee (CEC) said .
The elections are scheduled for February 12, 2012. The district election commissions will work from 08:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m.
T he CEC reported that the campaign will be conducted in accordance with the plan of action considered and approved at a previous meeting.
At present, polling stations are being established and the staff of the district election commissions is being determined. The lists will be published in local newspapers.
Polling stations are being equipped with necessary material and technical means, including
s pecial transparent ballot boxes, reference and methodological literature,
office equipment, communication equipment, etc.
Polling stations will be established under diplomatic missions f or citizens living outside Turkmenistan.
Brochures with texts of legislative acts in this area, and instructions were prepared for national and international observers as well as representatives of foreign media.
All of the above-mentioned materials were published in the Turkmen and Russian
languages.
Turkmen current president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov recently said at a government meeting that the upcoming presidential elections in Turkmenistan should take place in an atmosphere of openness and publicity.
According to the the country's Constitution, a Turkmen president must be a citizen born in Turkmenistan. The candidate must be at least forty years old, though not older than seventy, know the state language, have lived in Turkmenistan during the past fifteen years, and worked in in state bodies, public associations, enterprises, institutions and organizations.
A single presidential term lasts five years.