Turkmenistan: Serdar Berdymoukhamedov, candidate to succeed his father

Serdar Berdymoukhamedov, the son of the country's leader, during a ceremony in the capital Ashgabat, August 21, 2021. AFP - IGOR SASIN

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1 min

In Turkmenistan it is indeed the son of President Gourbangouly Berdymoukhamedov, Serdar, who will be running for the highest office in the early election on 12th March next. 

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With our regional correspondent, 

As one of the most closed dictatorships in the world, Turkmenistan has therefore implemented what should be called dynastic succession.

In his few public appearances, Serdar Berdymoukhamedov, 40, still wearing the black suit emphasizing his slim figure, seems discreet, even shy.

Rumor has it that this graduate of the Agricultural University of Ashgabat does not particularly desire power.

But his father decided otherwise after 15 years of rule and the sometimes extravagant and always kitsch practice of the

.

has been groomed to succeed him for

four years .

In 2018, he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A year later, here he is governor of the Akhal region.

Then, at the start of 2021, he entered the government as Deputy Prime Minister, soon to be in charge of the Energy sector in particular, while the Central Asian Republic of 6 million inhabitants has the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas.

So here is a CV built at the pace.

This perhaps justifies that it will still be necessary to guide him in his functions.

To do this, his father should continue to preside over the upper house of Parliament, with powers that still remain unclear.

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• Turkmenistan

• Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov