Turkmenistan to Amend Constitution in September 2008

Ashgabat, 24 April 2008 (nCa) --- Turkmenistan will introduce major amendments to its constitution in September 2008 during a special session of Khalk Maslahaty (Peoples Council).

The announcement came Wednesday when President Berdymuhamedov chaired an expanded session of cabinet of ministers to give guidelines for constitutional amendments.

A special committee has already been formed to propose constitutional reforms.

The Turkmen president did not elaborate as to what kind of amendments to the constitution were being pondered but his remarks during the cabinet session suggested that something big could be in the offing.

“The fast changing economic and political conditions in the world and the ongoing reforms in the country demand improvement in the activity of state legal institutions, quick adoption of new laws and their prompt introduction in life,” said Berdymuhamedov.

He pointed out that since adoption 16 years ago the constitution of Turkmenistan had undergone amendments in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2006. “Each of these amendments had historical importance and facilitated solution of major political and socio-economic problems of the time,” he said.

The president continued, “Some articles and rules of the constitution are outdated, lagging behind times, even hindering the progress.”

“The world is moving forward and any state that cannot keep pace with the global developments will inevitably be left behind,” Berdymuhamedov emphasized.

“We cannot allow this to happen to our country,” he underlined.

The president said that the policy of the national revival and fundamental reforms necessitates deeper politico-legal thinking. It means changes in the activity of all the bodies of state authority and government, right from Khalk Maslahaty and Mejlis (parliament) down to local self government.

He said, “The need has ripened for development of essentially new approaches to domestic policy and decision of socio-economic problems, including the determination of precise legal instruments and perfection of activity of the supreme bodies of authority in Turkmenistan.”

The president asked the ministry of justice, ministry of internal affairs, ministry of national security, the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, the prosecutor general of Turkmenistan, and the institute of democracy and human rights to create working groups to propose constitutional reforms. The working groups would send their recommendations to the parliament for debate.

In order to ensure transparency in the process, the mass media of Turkmenistan will publish the details of proposed amendments to the constitution every step of the way. Local journalists will be invited to attend the meetings of the constitution reform commission at least once a month.

The parliament will debate the proposals and send its recommendations to the constitution reform commission by 1 July 2008.

A special session of the Khalk Maslahaty will be convened in September 2008 in Ashgabat to adopt the amendments.