Turkmenistan Adopts New Presidential Election Law

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan — Turkmenistan has adopted a new law regulating presidential elections in what appears to be an attempt to provide a democratic facade for this authoritarian ex-Soviet nation. The law, published in a government newspaper Wednesday, says a presidential candidate must be either backed by a political party or collect at least 50,000 signatures to qualify. The current law envisages that a contender only needs approval from a now-defunct […]