December 15, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 16, 1429

ASHGABAT, Dec 14: More than two million Turkmen voted on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election touted by the government as a step towards democracy but condemned by critics as a sham.

The polling stations closed at 6 p.m. (1300 GMT) but the government, which has 10 days to announce the results, has not come out with any final figures yet.

More than 2.5 million Turkmen were eligible to vote, from camel-herding nomads on its sandy border with Iran to the vast gas fields in the east.

The government said that 88 per cent of them turned up in the first eight hours of voting. But with all the candidates representing either the ruling Democratic party, the only party registered in Turkmenistan, or a handful of state-approved independents, they were hardly spoiled for choice.

The former Soviet Central Asian country on the Caspian Sea has been emerging from isolation since absolute leader Saparmurat Niyazov died in 2006 after an eccentric, 21-year reign.

New President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has promised to press ahead with reform and attract foreign investors.

—Reuters