Son of Turkmenistan’s leader to run in an early election
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — The son of Turkmenistan’s authoritarian leader will run in an early presidential election next month, a move that lays the foundation for a political dynasty in the gas-rich Central Asian republic. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov announced the vote on Saturday, saying he is ready to relinquish power to a new generation in a statement that appeared to suggest his 40-year-old son Serdar would succeed him. On Monday the country’s Democratic Party nominated Serdar as a candidate for the March 12 presidential vote. He has risen through a series of government posts and is now deputy chairman of the Cabinet. No election in post-Soviet Turkmenistan has been considered genuinely competitive.