Sawt Falasteen - Mongolia ruling party wins reduced majority in vote dominated by graft

Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene early Saturday morning declared victory in the previous day's polls, in which millions of Mongolians turned out to elect 126 members of the State Great Khural, the country's unicameral parliament.

And on Saturday, local media outlet Ikon -- collating figures provide by the country's General Election Commission -- reported the ruling Mongolian People's Party had won 68 seats, giving it a majority of four.

The main opposition Democratic Party won 42, Ikon reported, while the minor anti-corruption HUN party won eight. Smaller parties won eight seats between them.

And at a press conference Saturday afternoon in the capital Ulaanbaatar, the head of the Electoral Commission said there remained some votes to be counted by hand to verify results collated by machines.

"Only six to seven polling station are remaining, but the hand counting matches the machines 100 percent," he said.

"These polling stations will be finished very soon," he added.

The results -- the first under a new electoral system in which Mongolians vote for both proportional lists and individuals representing large districts -- mean the MPP will govern with a greatly reduced majority.

- 'Rebuke' -

The new parliament will see the MPP hold 54 percent of the seats, compared to around 80 percent in 2020.

"This election result definitely represents a rebuke to MPP and the entirety of its leadership," Bayarlkhagva Munkhnaran, an analyst and former official with the National Security Council of Mongolia, told AFP.

Winning 68 seats is "barely a face-saver and any subsequent government will be a weak but much more democratic one," he said.

"The biggest winners are Mongolian people who resolutely hit the polling stations and confirmed their unequivocal support for democratic path."

Analysts had expected the MPP to retain the majority it has enjoyed since 2016 and govern for another four years.

They say the party can credit much of its success to a boom in coal mining that fuelled double-digit growth and dramatically improved standards of living, as well as to a formidable party machine.

But the campaign was dominated by deep public frustration over endemic corruption, as well as the high cost of living and lack of opportunities for young people who make up almost two-thirds of the population.

There is also a widespread belief that the proceeds of the coal-mining boom are being hoarded by a wealthy elite -- a view that has sparked frequent protests.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST