ASHGABAT (REUTERS) - Mr Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the son of outgoing Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, won a snap election with 73 per cent of the vote and will succeed his father, the Central Asian nation's Central Election Commission said on Tuesday (March 15).

The victory of 40-year-old Serdar Berdymukhamedov was widely expected after his father elevated him to the No. 2 position in the country as a deputy prime minister, clearly indicating that he was the designated successor.

There are no strong political opposition groups in the gas-rich desert nation of six million which borders Iran and Afghanistan in the south.

Eight other candidates ran in the election, some of them largely unknown low-level public servants. Under the Turkmen constitution, the president is elected for a seven-year term.

Mr Serdar Berdymukhamedov is commonly referred to by local media as "the son of the nation", while his 64-year-old father - who intends to stay on as the speaker of the upper house - is known as Arkadag, or Protector.