Votes were being counted on Monday after Turkmens voted in the presidential election in which six candidates, including acting President Gurbungali Berdymukhamedov, were vying for the country's top job.

Voter turnout stood at 98.65 percent in the Central Asian nation where more than 2.65 million people were registered to vote, the state news agency Turkmen Press reported citing the Central Election Commission.

Preliminary results of the vote were expected on Tuesday.

Turkmens enjoyed festivities on election day. At some polling stations in Ashgabat, bands played music and young singers in traditional costumes sang folk songs.

Berdymukhamedov was deputy prime minister before being named acting president following the death of president Saparmurat Niyazov on Dec. 21 at the age of 66.

Turkmenistan's constitution allows Berdymukhamedov to serve as acting president for 60 days and then an election must be held.

Sunday's vote was the first presidential election with more than one candidate in the country's history.

The other candidates are Ishanguly Nuryyev, deputy minister of oil and gas, Ashyrniyaz Pomanov, mayor of the town of Turkmenbashi, Mukhammednazar Gurbanov, head of the Karabekaul district, Orazmyrad Garadzhayev, mayor of the town of Abadan, and Amanyaz Atadzhikov, deputy governor of the northern Dashoguz region.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a trans-Atlantic democracy and election body, has sent an election support team, instead of an observation mission, to Turkmenistan.

"The team is not observing nor monitoring the election as deployment of an election observation mission was not possible because of time constraints," the organization said in a statement.

Lying north of Afghanistan and Iran, the nation of 5 million people became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Turkmenistan is the top natural gas exporter in the region.

Source: Xinhua