ASHGABAT, February 12 (RIA Novosti) - The name of Turkmenistan's new president will be announced Wednesday, an election committee source said Monday.
The Central Asian country bordering on Afghanistan held its first alternative presidential election Sunday to replace the late authoritarian ruler Saparmurat Niyazov.
The new president will be inaugurated at a session of Turkmenistan's supreme state body, the People's Council of Turkmenistan.
Six candidates ran for the presidency, but acting president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is considered the favorite in the presidential race.
The Central Election Committee announced a total of 98.65% of registered voters had come to the polls, but the Turkmen opposition already said the high voter turnout was falsified by the authorities.
Niyazov died of heart failure in late December 2006, aged 66. He ruled the country with an iron fist for more than two decades, forcing many prominent opposition activists into exile.
