When Turkmenistan gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the former republic's president and head of the Turkmen Communist Party, Saparamurad Niyazov, retained power. He was reelected president in another uncontested race in 1992, and a referendum in 1994 extended his term until 2002. Before facing reelection, however, constitutional amendments approved in 1999 proclaimed him president for life. The country's May 1992 constitution granted Niyazov overwhelming powers to rule by decree as head of state and government. According to several assessments, he was among the world's most authoritarian rulers, and his regime was highly corrupt and responsible for serious human rights abuses. The regime increasingly restricted contacts by citizens with the outside world. Following the death of President Niyazov in December 2006, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected president in early 2007. Since then, Turkmenistan has "remain[ed] a mostly closed society [and] progress toward reforms has been sporadic," according to the State Department. Freedom House, a nongovernmental organization (NGO), has ranked Turkmenistan among the "worst of the worst" countries in the world in terms of political and civil liberties, among such countries as North Korea, Sudan, and Uzbekistan (see below, human rights). There are only two legal political parties: the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT), which changed its name from the Communist Party in late 1991; and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PIE), created in 2012. Exile political groups opposed to the regime have included those formed by former officials who have fled the country. Such groups have included the United Democratic Opposition, headed by former Foreign Minister Awdy Kulyyew (Kuliyev); the Watan Social-Political Movement, headed by former Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Annadurdy Hajyyew (Khadzhiyev); the Republican Party, headed by former Ambassador to Turkey Nurmuhammet Hanamow (Khanamov); and the Fatherland movement, founded by former Prime Minister Hudayberdi Orazow (Orazov). The latter three leaders received life sentences in absentia on charges of instigating an alleged coup attempt in 2002. Former Foreign Minister Boris Orazowic Syhmyradow (Shikhmuradov) founded the People's Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan in 2001 and was imprisoned for life on coup charges a year later. The Turkmen government has not revealed whether he is still alive. In 2003, the Turkmenistan Helsinki Foundation was established in Bulgaria, and in 2006, activist Farid Tukhbatullin founded the Turkmen Human Rights Initiative in Austria. Only the latter three organizations reportedly are still active. The morning of Niyazov's reported death from a heart attack on December 21, 2006, the government proclaimed that Berdimuhamedow, then the deputy prime minister and health minister, would serve as acting president. The existing constitution had called for the speaker to fill this role, but he was quickly arrested and later sentenced to seven years in prison on charges viewed as dubious by many observers. A 2,500-member People's Council ( Halk Maslahaty or HM), a constitutional body with supreme executive and legislative powers (consisting of the president, ministers, Mejlis legislators, and others) convened on December 26 and changed the constitution to legitimize Berdimuhamedow's position as acting president. The HM also approved an electoral law and announced that the next presidential election would be held on February 11, 2007. The HM designated six candidates for the presidential election, one from each region, all of whom were government officials. Exiled politicians were banned from participation. Reportedly, nearly 99% of 2.6 million voters turned out, and 89.23% endorsed acting President Berdimuhamedow. A needs assessment mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) visited during the campaign. It praised some provisions of a new presidential election law, such as those permitting multiple candidacies and access by electoral observers, but criticized others, including those permitting only citizens approved by the legislature and who had served as state officials to run. A small OSCE delegation on election day reportedly was not allowed to view vote-counting. According to the U.S. State Department, the election "represent[ed] a modest step toward political electoral change that could help create the conditions in the future for free, fair, open and truly competitive elections." In his inaugural address on February 14, 2007, Berdimuhamedow pledged to continue to provide free natural gas, salt, water, and electricity and subsidized bread, gasoline, and housing to the populace, and to uphold the foreign policy of the previous government. Berdimuhamedow was acclaimed head of the HM in late March 2007, thus assuming all the top posts held by the late Niyazov. Berdimuhamedow has removed some of Niyazov's statues from Ashgabat and other symbols of Niyazov's cult of personality, but Niyazov's spiritual guide, the Ruhnama , remains required reading in the schools. Berdimuhamedow appears to be the subject of an emerging cult of personality, which includes a monument built in part to glorify his proclamation of a "new revival era" for Turkmenistan. A constitutional commission unveiled a draft constitution in July 2008 that after public debate was approved by the HM in September 2008. The new constitution reaffirmed Turkmenistan as a "secular democracy" with a powerful president able to rule by decree. The constitution included an impressive list of individual rights, but emphasized that the exercise of rights must not violate public order or damage national security. The constitution abolished the HM and divided its powers between the Mejlis and the president. It enlarged the Mejlis from 65 to 125 members. An early legislative election was held in December 2008. An OSCE pre-election needs assessment mission stated that "a lack of distinction between civil society organizations, the party, and the State," had resulted in only government-approved candidates running for seats, so that a democratic election was not possible. At least two approved candidates ran in each district, but campaigning was muted and noncontroversial. There was no campaign finance legislation that would uphold independent financing other than that provided by the state. The Turkmen Central Electoral Commission (CEC) stated that besides the DPT, some other approved civil society groups had nominated candidates. However, although independent citizens' groups were able by law to meet and nominate candidates, at least two such efforts reportedly were quashed by security officials. The CEC reported that almost 94% of the electorate voted, but some observers reported a light turnout. President Berdimuhamedow hailed the election as advancing Turkmen democracy. There reportedly were some members of approved civil society groups elected besides members of the DPT. In operation, the Mejlis routinely has supported presidential decrees and has displayed little legislative initiative. After being initially abolished as part of the 2008 constitutional reforms, a consultative Council of Elders was reaffirmed late in the year, and held a session under President Berdimuhamedow in March 2009. In February 2010, Berdimuhamedow called for the creation of a multi-party system, and in April 2010 he ordered the legislature to consider a law creating such a system. In the meantime, he called for the creation of a Farmers' Party as an alternative to the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT). This party was never set up, however. In local elections held in December 2010, only the Democratic Party and approved civil society groups were permitted to field candidates. In January 2011, he urged the legislature to pass a law to facilitate the formation of new political parties (see below). At a military parade in October 2010, troops proclaimed President Berdimuhamedow the "Arkadag" (protector) of the country. In early October 2011, the Council of Elders recommended that the president be named the "hero of Turkmenistan," and the Mejlis voted for the "Golden Moon" medal and the hero title later in the month. A new presidential election law was adopted in May 2011 that was problematic in ensuring a free and fair election, according to the OSCE. Problems included hurdles to candidate registration, restrictions on freedom of expression that limited campaigning, and an inadequate process for complaints and appeals. In October 2011, the Turkmen Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced that a presidential election would be held on February 12, 2012. During the last two weeks of December 2011, initiative groups nominated candidates for president and gathered 10,000 signatures in a majority of the country's districts in order to gain registration of their candidates. The National Revival Movement, a civic association headed by the president, nominated President Berdimuhamedow as its candidate. In January 2012, the CEC registered eight candidates. All of Berdimuhamedow's challengers were ministerial officials or state plant managers. Based on an inadequate legal and political framework to ensure a pluralistic election, the OSCE decided not to formally monitor the election. The CEC announced that Berdimuhamedow won over 97% of the vote and that turnout was over 96%. In January 2012, the legislature approved a Law on Political Parties that set forth procedures for establishing new political parties. In May 2012, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs announced that it intended to form a party, and it held a founding congress in August 2012 to form the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PIE). The platform of the new party is virtually the same as that of the DPT and is regarded as a pro-government party by most observers.