ASHGABAT -- The son of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has been nominated as a presidential candidate hours after the Central Election Commission launched the first stage of the country's campaign in an early presidential election.
The decision to nominate 40-year-old Serdar Berdymukhammedov was made at the congress of the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan on February 14 after election officials announced the opening of the nomination process from the three registered political parties in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation.
Three days earlier the longtime authoritarian leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, 64, hinted that he plans to resign.
The two other registered parties in the extremely isolated energy-rich country are the Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan. They are known to be loyal to the ruling party and support Berdymukhammedov, who has ruled for more than a decade in Turkmenistan, a country where true opposition parties don't exist.
The early presidential election, to be held on March 12, was announced on February 12 after Berdymukhammedov told an extraordinary meeting of the upper chamber of parliament that he intended to step aside so that power can be turned over to "young leaders." Most observers see that as meaning he is preparing to hand the reins to his son, Serdar.
SEE ALSO: Turkmen President Hints At Succession, Announces Election For March 12Rumors have been swirling for a year that Berdymukhammedov will attempt to transfer power to his son, who turned 40 in September and thus reaching the age requirement to become president under the constitution.
Serdar Berdymukhammedov burst onto the Turkmen political scene last year, when he was tapped to be deputy prime minister, one of several official positions he now holds. He is also a member of the State Security Council.
Should he succeed his father, Serdar Berdymukhammedov would take over one of the most secluded and impoverished states in Eurasia despite its massive energy resources, including natural gas.
SEE ALSO: Is Turkmenistan Planning A Leadership Change?Berdymukhammedov, who came to power following the death of long-serving President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006, did not specify when he intends to step down.
According to rights groups, Turkmenistan has never held free and fair elections since becoming an independent state following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.