1991 Turkmen independence referendum

none Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic 1991 10 26 y Do you agree with the legislative establishment of Turkmenistan as an independent democratic state? For 94.1 Against 5.9 Do you support the statement of the President and Supreme Soviet of the Turkmenistan Soviet Socialist Republic "On the domestic and foreign policy of Turkmenistan" and the practical activity to implement it? For 93.5 Against 6.5 An independence referendum was held in the Turkmen SSR on 26 October 1991. Background The policies of demokratizatsiya and perestroika as enacted by Mikhail Gorbachev led to the gradual loss of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's iron grip over its constituent federal republics. Nationalistic sentiments were on the rise—often fomenting in widescale protests—across late 1980s, leading to the parade of sovereignties. In Turkmenistan, the national conservative Agzybirlik (Unification) took up the cause of independence and gained a significant base among native Turkmens. Saparmurat Niyazov—then Secretary of the Supreme Soviet—had the party banned for anti-Soviet activities, and suppressed dissent. However, in what the first multi-party election to the Supreme Soviet (1990), multiple independent candidates won and propagated nationalist sentiments. Despite this, in the March 1991 referendum, 98% of voters proposed to preserve the Turkmen SSR as an equal sovereign republic of the USSR. A treaty to the effect was agreed upon to be signed but a day before, hardline communists launched a coup in Russia. Niyazov remained ambivalent to the coup but once it failed and Russia made its intentions clear to leave USSR, he prepared for the inevitable disintegration of the USSR and independence of Turkmenistan. The independence referendum was held in this context, and with the aim of rebranding Niyazov as an able leader in the testing times of transition and to pave the way to eventual autocracy. Questions Voters were asked two questions:Nohlen Dieter http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/019924958X.001.0001/acprof-9780199249589 Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook Grotz Florian Hartmann Christof 2001-11-15 Oxford University Press 978-0-19-924958-9 10.1093/019924958x.003.0022 2022-10-18 2021-11-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20221018104551/http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/019924958X.001.0001/acprof-9780199249589 dead Do you agree with the legislative establishment of Turkmenistan as an independent democratic state? Do you support the statement of the President and Supreme Soviet of the Turkmenistan Soviet Socialist Republic "On the domestic and foreign policy of Turkmenistan" and the practical activity to implement it? Results Independence 1707725 107693 1864142 Direct Democracy Niyazovism 93.5 6.5 1864142 Direct Democracy References Category:Dissolution of the Soviet Union Turkmenistan Independence Category:Referendums in Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Category:Referendums in the Soviet Union Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results