Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has been nominated for a third term as a candidate in the next year election, which he is widely expected to win.
State news agency Turkmenistan Today said Thursday that Berdymukhamedov's Democratic Party nominated him as a candidate in the February 2017 presidential election in the gas-rich country.
Report said two other major parties in Turkmenistan, namely the Agrarian Party and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, will nominate their candidates later this month.
Berdymukhamedov has been in power since 2006, when Turkmenistan’s long-time president Saparmurat Niyazov died.
Berdymukhamedov enjoys a good deal of popularity among the Turkmens, who say the president, commonly known as Arkadag (protector), is overseeing an "era of might and happiness" following the "Golden Age" of Niyazov, who was referred to as Turkmenbashi (leader of Turkmens).
An amendment to Turkmenistan’s constitution in September allowed Berdymukhamedov to seek an indefinite number of terms in office. He gained 97 percent of the vote in the 2012 presidential election in the former Soviet republic.
Berdymukhamedov’s son was elected last month as a member of parliament in Turkmenistan, prompting many to speculate that the 59-year-old is seeking to consolidate power in his inner circle.