ALMATY (Reuters) - Turkmenistan's President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov says Sunday's parliametary election is a democratic milestone for his gas-rich nation, but critics say it merely slaps a veneer on what they call a repressive autocracy.
The 56-year-old leader wields virtually unlimited power and is officially nicknamed Arkadag, or The Patron, in his mainly Muslim Central Asian state of 5.5 million which holds the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas.
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