Turkmenistan votes for new, opposition-free parliament

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Voters in Turkmenistan have cast ballots for a new parliament that’s expected to be opposition-free and loyal to the government of the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Sunday’s election for 125 members included 258 candidates, put forward by three political parties or running independently. All of them support President Serdar Berdymukhamedov. He was elected last year to succeed his father who had run the the isolated ex-Soviet country for more than a decade. Turkmenistan has remained difficult for outsiders to enter. It has also struggled to diversify its gas-dependent economy.