Turkmenistan's leader Saparmurat Niyazov, whom parliament has declared president for life, has signaled he might step down in 2009. "The country's destiny must not depend on one person. Therefore we will certainly hold presidential elections in 2009 on a broad democratic basis so that people themselves can make a choice," Niyazov told a Cabinet meeting late Thursday. "One must go sooner or later. That's why we have to jointly define young (presidential) candidates," Niyazov told the meeting, which was televised on Friday. He said three to four candidates must contest the presidency.
