Berdymukhammedov, a former health minister who was appointed interim president after the death of dictator Saparmurat Niyazov in December, was declared the winner of a controversial weekend presidential election.

"Gurbanguly Berdymukham-medov received 89.23 percent of the votes," the head of Turkmen-istan's electoral commission, Murad Karryev, told a meeting of the country's highest legislative body, the People's Council.

"The people have confided their destiny in you," Karryev told Berdymukhammedov, who then embraced the Turkmen flag and took an oath on the country's constitution.

The presidential election on Sunday was the first in the country's history to feature multiple candidates but the vote was criticised by Western diplomats and exiled opposition leaders as rigged.

Ahead of the election, ordinary Turkmens voiced hopes for an easing of the strict authoritarian rules set by Niyazov, including restrictions on international travel and limited access to the Internet.

The five other candidates in the election were mostly little-known officials who were thought to have no real chance of winning and all the candidates were members of the country's only authorised political party.