Serdar Berdimuhamedov will take over from his father as the leader of Turkmenistan after being declared the winner of the Central Asian country’s presidential election on Tuesday.
Berdimuhamedov, 40, secured 72.97% of the votes, far ahead of the nearest of his nine rivals Khyrdyr Nunnayev, who won 11%, according to results announced by the Central Election Commission after what was an unexpected delay in counting.
More than 3.36 million people cast their ballots in the March 12 vote, bringing the overall turnout to 97.17%, state news agency TDH reported.
The younger Berdimuhamedov was serving as deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of his father and outgoing President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who announced the snap election last month.
He was widely expected to win after being named as the presidential candidate by the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan.
After his nomination, Serdar Berdimuhamedov vowed to “work for the people of our country, based on the heritage and principles of our ancestors, our country.”
“My main goal is to develop our state and ensure that our people lead a prosperous life,” he said at a ruling party meeting last month.
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