Daily Business News Mongolia

Opposition alleges fraud in Mongolia vote

Reuters UK reports that,

ULAN BATOR, July 1 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters marched in Mongolia’s capital on Tuesday alleging fraud in a weekend election, and the leader of the opposition Democratic Party said he would not accept the projected outcome.
Mongolia’s election committee has yet to give the final result of Sunday’s vote, but the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) is believed to have won about 43 seats in the 76-seat parliament, or Great Hural, giving it a clear majority.
“We do not accept these results,” Democratic Party leader Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj told a news conference. “No one needs these kinds of results, and they will be corrected in accordance with law.”
International observers say that overall the election, in a country of vast grasslands and deserts that is a rare example of democracy in Central Asia, was free and fair. (more…)

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Ex-communists ‘win’ Mongolia poll

Aljazeera.net writes that,

Mongolia’s former communists have claimed the majority of seats in the nation’s parliament, leaving them poised to end four years of coalition government with their political rivals.
The Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) announced on Monday that it had won 44 seats out of the 76 in the Grand Khural, or parliament.

To gain a majority in the Great Khural a party needs to win at least 39 seats.
Sanjagiin Bayar, the MPRP leader and Mongolia’s prime minister, said: “We can’t give the complete election results yet, but the election did go well for us”. (more…)

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Dead heat in Mongolia vote count

CBC News of Canada reports that,

Close result could delay large mining project led by Canadians

People in Mongolia faced uncertainty Monday after a weekend general election gave neither of the country’s main political parties a clear lead and raised concern about delays to efforts by Canadian and other international mining companies to tap the country’s vast mineral wealth.
Partial results from Sunday’s voting put the incumbent Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party [MPRP] and the opposition Democratic Party in a dead heat, local media reported.
But vote counting in the capital, Ulan Bator, was proceeding slowly and opposition supporters said the city is their main power base and they were confident of a strong showing. (more…)

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Mongolia election boost for mining

Financial Times writes that,

By Mure Dickie in Beijing

Mongolia’s ruling party yesterday claimed victory in parliamentary elections expected to open the way for long-awaited agreement on how to handle billions of dollars of foreign investment in the country’s mining sector.
The Mongolian People’s Revolutionary party said it had won 38 seats from rural constituencies, enough to secure a clear majority in the 76-member unicameral parliament, the State Great Hural.
With the MPRP expected to claim more seats from constituencies in the capital Ulan Bator, where votes were still being counted, the result appeared set to markedly strengthen the ruling party’s position.
Mongolia’s last parliamentary election in 2004 gave only the narrowest of parliamentary majorities to the MPRP, a former communist party that has governed the country for all but four of the last 87 years. (more…)

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Mongolia ruling party wins election

The Associated Press reports that,

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) — Mongolia’s ruling party won a tough parliamentary election contested over how to share more of the country’s natural wealth, according to preliminary results Monday.
The ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party — which also governed the country when it was a Soviet satellite — won 41 seats in Sunday’s vote, said Battulga Bataa, chairman of the General Election Commission.
That would give the party more than half of the 76 seats in parliament, called the State Great Khural.
“Currently, counting of votes from rural areas is finished in principle. Our election committees are still counting votes from Ulaanbaatar and other urban areas,” Battulga said.
Final election results were not expected until Tuesday. Preliminary results showed the Mongolian Democratic Party taking 25 seats and independents winning one seat. (more…)

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Mongolia polling stations close after high turnout

France24 reports that,

Polling stations closed Sunday across Mongolia, where high voter turnout capped a gruelling campaign between the two major parties, the Democrats and the ruling MPRP.
For weeks the rivals had engaged in a nasty exchange of mudslinging advertising and allegations of vote buying, but in the end the General Election Committee reported no major irregularities.
High voter turnout was reported across the country, with more than 80 percent in some areas. Vote counting began soon after the polls closed at 10pm local time, but results are not expected until Monday morning at the earliest. A new multi-mandate system of voting means counting could take longer than usual. Each ballot could have three names circled and candidates need to pass a 25% threshold to claim victory. (more…)

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Polls close in Mongolian election

Aljazeera reports that:

Polls have closed in Mongolia’s parliamentary elections, with results expected to take at least a day to coalate.
Mongolians turned out in droves on Sunday, many riding on camel or horseback and some in traditional dress, to vote in the country’s elections.
Mongolia’s election commission said that, judging from early returns, voter turnout would surpass the 82 per cent who voted in the last election in 2004. (more…)

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Backgrounder: Mongolia’s parliamentary election

Xinhua reports that:

ULAN BATOR, June 29 (Xinhua) — Mongolians went to the polls Sunday morning to elect 76 members of the country’s parliament — the State Great Hural.

The election has registered 311 candidates nominated from 11 parties and one coalition, as well as 45 independent candidates. New parliament members will serve a four-year term.

There are 26 election districts in the country, from which two to four members of parliament will be elected. Starting from 7 a.m. local time (2300 GMT), the voting would close at 10 p.m. Sunday (1400 GMT) and the results will be released soon. (more…)

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Mongolia kicks off parliamentary election

China Daily writes that:

ULAN BATOR - Mongolians went to the polling stations Sunday morning across the country to elect new members of the nation’s parliament - the State Great Hural.
Starting from 7 a.m. local time (2300 GMT), the polling stations opened for people to cast their votes to elect 76 members of parliament.
The election has registered 311 candidates nominated from 11 parties and one coalition, as well as 45 independent candidates. The new parliament members will serve a four-year term. (more…)

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Mongolians go to polls as mining deals eyed

Reuters reports that:

By Lindsay Beck

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - On horseback, foot and motorcycle, Mongolians cast their ballots on Sunday in a tight race that will see the election of a government tasked with fighting inflation and tapping into huge mineral wealth.
A poll showed the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) with a slight edge over the Democratic Party, but if neither wins a majority in the 76-seat parliament, or Great Hural, the smaller parties on the ballot could be the real power-brokers.
“Are you going to ask me who I voted for?” Prime Minister Sanjaagiin Bayar joked as he cast his ballot in the capital.
The last election four years ago resulted in a hung parliament, leaving the parties to scramble to form a government to rule the landlocked country of less than 3 million, whose empire under Genghis Khan once extended west as far as Hungary. (more…)

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