The Turkmen parliament has scheduled the presidential election for February 12, 2017, the Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news agency (TDH) reported.

The corresponding decision was made at the sixteenth session of the Turkmen parliament of the fifth convocation, the report said.

According to the report, three parties will attend the electoral campaign for the first time. Besides the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Agrarian Party will be also involved.

Turkmen incumbent President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was elected twice. Some 97.4 percent of people voted for President Berdimuhamedov in the recent election held in February 2012.

According to the new edition of the constitution, the president of Turkmenistan is elected for seven years.