Turkmen president to seek re-election

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov will seek re-election in the 2012 presidential vote, a government-backed coalition said. The 7th representative conference of Turkmenistan's National Revival Movement Thursday night formally nominated Berdymukhamedov as its candidate for the presidential election in February. The coalition also decided development strategies, major works and policies during the conference. The coalition, initiated in late 1992 by the Democratic Party, the country's sole political party, consists of nationwide organizations of workers, veteran soldiers, women and unions. Berdymukhamedov, the second president since the country's independence from the Soviet Union, was elected on Feb. 14, 2007.