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Racism in the 2008 presidential election?

For those who think race won’t play a major factor in the election next month, check out this segment from the Howard Stern Show:

Mongolian Parliament Finally Sworn In

The New York Sun reports that the Mongolian government is finally ready to get to work. Following the protests of the July 1 election, the minority Democratic Party refused to attend sessions of Parliament. Without their presence, the majority MPRP could not establish a quorum to begin work.

Now, Elbegdorj Tsakhia, leader of the Democratic Party, has relented. He continues to allege voter fraud, claiming that the DP should have won 64 seats, instead of the 28 they were awarded. Although international observers declared the election fair, Elbegdorj says fraud was endemic. Some people voted as many as 18 times, he alleges, and, because the MPRP controls the electoral process, little was done to police the situation. Polls show that most Mongolian voters believe the election was unfair.

Of greater concern, though, were the post-election activities of the government. During the state of emergency, all private television channels were silenced, allowing the MPRP to have greater influence over public opinion. Elbegdorj even suspects that a fire set at the National Modern Art Gallery was a deliberate attempt to frame the DP. Naturally, the MPRP denies any involvement with the fire. “You can’t think of a more stupid thing,” says the general secretary of the party.

In order to convince the DP to return to Parliament, some concessions were made. A subcommittee will investigate the fraud allegations, and the state prosecutor’s office will look into possible abuses by the police during the protests. Some police officers have already been charged with shooting protesters.

Post-Election Violence Continues

Five people have been killed and 328, including 108 servicemen, have been injured in demonstrations in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia. Two of the five dead were shot and another died of smoke inhalation inside the MPRP headquarters. A Japanese journalist was among the injured. Around 700 protesters have been detained, 90% of them younger than 35. About 1,500 security forces, including 200 soliders, are patrolling the streets of the capital.

This is Mongolia’s first ever state of emergency. In addition to the curfew enacted from 10 pm to 8 am for four days, the central parts of the city have been cordoned off. Alcohol sales have also been banned, and only state-owned TV stations are being permitted to broadcast. The city has largely calmed. Some roads are still barricaded, but business have opened and public transport is running.

The US embassy has expressed deep concern and has urged both parties to work together to remain a bastion of democracy in Central Asia. The justice department has reported that opposition forces are planning large demonstrations after the curfew is lifted and insists that those protests will also be suppressed. The parliament is to meet in an emergency session today to discuss the crisis.

State of Emergency

As violent protests have continued to swell in Mongolia, the government has announced a four-day state of emergency. Shots were fired as troops moved into the capital to enforce the curfew, which will last until Friday evening. Anyone on the streets after 10 pm without documentation may be arrested.

Rioters were looting art galleries and stealing televisions from government offices. Others were vandalizing and torching cars in the neighborhood, but activity died down when the president announced the curfew. As many as 30 police officers and 25 civilians have been hospitalized.

President Enkhbayar did meet with the prime minister and the opposition leaders urging restraint. Following this meeting, Prime Minister S. Bayar leveled blame for the incidents pointedly at the leader of the Democratic Party.

Violent Protests Follow Mongolian Election

What had been a relatively peaceful election process in Mongolia has now shown some signs of violence. In mid-afternoon, roughly 6,000 protesters, mostly young males from the Mongolian Democratic Party, alleging voter fraud, clashed with police outside the headquarters of the General Election Commission and the MPRP. Protesters threw stones at the buildings and at the police in riot gear. Some also pushed into the election offices and demanded the resignation of officials. Finally, protesters set fire to the MPRP headquarters and three nearby cars. They also entered a duty-free shop and began throwing bottles at the fire. When fire fighters tried to reach the scene, the demonstrators turned their rock-throwing activities toward the firetrucks. Firefighters managed to control the fire, but protesters continued to clash with the military and police, who retaliated with rocks, water cannons, rubber bullets and teargas. Several protesters sported bloody faces, but the riots were still in progress as night fell.

The protests originally centered around two districts of the capital won by the MPRP but contested by the Civic Movement Party. Later, though, the DP joined the demonstrations, questioning the entire outcome of the election. The latest results suggest that the MPRP has garnered 46 of the seats in the State Great Khural, the DP 26, an independent and a minor party each 1, with 2 seats still undetermined. No official results have been announced, and election commission officials have declared that claims being made by the MPRP are premature.

The leader of the DP, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, also announced that he would not accept the projected outcome: “We do not need these results. No one needs these kinds of results, and they will be corrected in accordance with the law.” Allegations center around suggestions that the MPRP controlled polling stations by appointing party members as directors. The DP plans to present details of election fraud, which may further delay the announcement of official results.

President Enkhbayar has called for investigation into the allegations of voter fraud but has denounced the use of illegal actions in expressing protest. The President and the Prime Minister plan to meet with the leaders of the dissenting groups.

Election Results

The rural votes have been counted, and with urban votes currently being counted, it looks like the MPRP has taken 44 seats (38 in the country and 6 in the capital), the DP 21 seats and independents 3 seats. Votes for the remaining seats are still being counted. Final results are expected tomorrow, but it appears that the MPRP has an absolute majority in the parliament and the former communists will be the ones tasked with bringing Mongolia’s inflation under control and determining how to appropriately exploit the nation’s mineral resources. The early results were sufficient to drive up Ivanhoe Mines’ stock around 9%.

Awaiting Election Results

Polling stations have closed, and we may have a long wait for the results of yesterday’s elections in Mongolia. Russian observers say the voting went off without a hitch, but some minor party candidates have already complained that the vote was not fair. Supporters of the Civic Movement Party grabbed ballot boxes in the capital but were chased down by police. The General Election Committee condemned the attack.

About 74% of the nation’s 1.5 million registered voters participated in the polling, down slightly from the 81% who voted in the election of 2004, which left a hung State Great Khural, with neither of the two major parties able to establish a firm government. Now, the discovery of extensive mineral wealth and concerns over unbridled inflation (15.1% last year) have combined to make this a high-stakes election. Per capita income in the country stands at just $1,500 a year.

Both the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party and the Mongolian Democratic Party support investment agreements to allow the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in the Gobi Desert to proceed. Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto, the developers of the project, suggest that this mine could boost Mongolia’s GDP by 34% and could be followed by uranium and coal extraction projects.

More than 350 candidates from 12 parties and one coalition ran in the election. Smaller parties argue that allowing the developers to proceed under current contracts would rob Mongolia of its wealth and do irreparable harm to the environment. The law currently gives the government a 50% share in any project where state funds are used and a 34% share in others. A recent proposal would give Mongolia a 51% share in any major project. The MPRP would centralize those holdings in the Mongolian government, and give each citizen a “Gift of the Motherland,” a cash dividend of $1,300 once mining starts. The DP, on the other hand, advocates a Mongolian holding corporation, in which all Mongolians are stakeholders, as well as giving a “Treasure Share” of $860 to each Mongolian. Both parties are also pushing greater economic independence for Mongolia through increased agricultural initiatives and further exploration for oil and natural gas. Currently, Mongolia imports 90% of its oil and natural gas from Russia, a fact Russia has recently used for economic blackmail.

Although the minor parties are unlikely to grab a large percentage of the vote, they may be in a significant position for negotiating if the parliament is again largely split. The MPRP claims that they have secured a majority of the votes in the countryside (40 to 50 of the 76 seats up for grabs), but other reports suggest a dead heat, which might result in a deadlock that could stall key mining deals.

Votes in the capital (typically a DP stronghold) remain uncounted, and there is confusion in some areas due to a new voting system. The old system had each constituency vote for one member of parliament. Now, there are fewer constituencies, but each one votes for several seats in the Great Khural. Voters have been confused, with some circling too many names on the ballot, invalidating their vote. Counting has also been slowed because pollworkers can no longer just stack up ballots as they did before when only one name was circled per ballot. The election committee is suggesting that results may not be available today.