ASHGABAD, Dec 16 (AFP) - Amanmurat, a typical 52-year-old Turkmen bureaucrat, is considered a criminal because he has two wives. However, the man's luck may soon change. Should Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov go ahead with plans to legalize polygamy, according to Islam, in the Central Asian republic, Amanmurat will be able to get recognition for both marriages instead of hiding them from the law.

"The president simply wants to legalize something that for a long time has existed in practice," said Amanmurat, who declined to give his last name.

Amanmurat's marriage to his first wife in this poor Central Asian republic is legally registered, but Turkmen law cuts him short at that. "Despite the fact that there are children in both families and I can financially support everyone, I cannot openly confess that I'm a polygamist. The law does not allow it," he said.

The powerful People's Council will take up legalization of the polygamy issue. It consists of a grouping of prominent citizens, parliamentary deputies and senior national and local leaders and takes place at the end of this month.

Polygamy has a long history in Turkmenistan among the largely Muslim population of 4.5 million, but when the republic came under Soviet rule, the practice was made illegal and driven underground. Nevertheless, in Turkmenistan and the neighboring ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan, multiple marriages have stayed in vogue. The local leader of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia has also allowed the practice even though Moscow is trying to annul his decree.

Under Islamic law, a man can take up to four wives so long as he has the ability to provide for and treat them equally. Turkmenistan's proposed law requires that the first wife give written consent for her husband to take another spouse. Despite the clause, some Turkmen women say they will not have much of a choice if their husbands do decide to take a second mate. "Rural girls are raised so that what they tell you is what will be. The husband who wants another wife will take her into the home. [The first wife] will have to endure," said Aina, a 19-year-old university student in Ashgabad.

Natalya, 42, a Christian, believes that there are issues in the poverty-stricken country to deal with that are more important than polygamy. She said, "As a mother I would forbid my daughters to marry such a man [with more than one wife]." The unemployed Russian woman said the practice would become a privilege of the wealthy in a country where the average monthly wage is about $20. "Only the wealthy will become polygamists. Those with no money can't even afford to feed one family," she said. "It would be better if our government resolved the problems of terrible unemployment among women, prostitution and female drug use."

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