In October, the U.S. company Unocal said it would continue work on a project to lay a gas pipeline to Pakistan via Afghanistan. Despite Turkmenistan s vast resources, there has been no reform of the Soviet command system, and the majority of citizens live in dire poverty. In 1998, President Niyazov continued his practice of routinely dismissing top officials to stop a potential power base from challenging his authority. In May, the oil minister was replaced, and in September Niyazov replaced the defense minister and sacked several top military officials, allegedly for their dismal response to an incident in which several servicemen deserted and took hostages. Political Rights and Civil Liberties Citizens of Turkmenistan do not have the means to change their government democratically.
Power remains concentrated in the hands of the president.
While the constitution provides for freedom of the press and expression, the government controls and funds all electronic and print media, prohibits the media from reporting the views of opposition political leaders and critics, and rarely allows the mildest of criticism of the government and its policies. Only two newspapers, Adalat and Galkynysh are nominally independent, and they were created by presidential decree. President Niyazov has been declared the founder of all newspapers in Turkmenistan. Whereas cable TV existed in the late 1980s in all cities and three commercial TV stations existed in the early 1990s, they have been closed. The state controls all TV and radio broadcasts.