Turkmenistan's president drafts new constitution that could let him serve for life

Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, left, and Wen Jiabao.
(Image credit: Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

If the parliament of Turkmenistan approves a new constitution later this year, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov could stay in power for a long, long time.

Currently in Turkmenistan, there's no limit on the number of terms a president can serve, but candidates cannot be older than 70. Under the new constitution — drafted by a commission led by Berdymukhamedov — presidential terms would be extended from five years to seven, and the age ceiling would be removed. The parliament is expected to pass this new constitution, Reuters reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.