Political Troubles

While we were at our camp in the countryside last week, we had heard only about a fire at the Revolutionary Party headquarters in the wake of the party’s very successful election results. When we returned to Choibalsan, we learned with great sadness of the rioting that took place in the capital on July 1st. In sum, the MPRP did much better than polls had previously suggested, winning a large majority of parliamentary seats. Many people expected the rival Democratic Party to do equally-well, but expectations were not met. Amid allegations of election fraud, agitators turned a peaceful protest into a riot, torching the MPRP building, a national art museum, police station while looting cultural centers and shops. There were several deaths.
A four-day state of emergency (since annulled) was declared in UB, and a 10pm curfew and alcohol ban were imposed. From what we gather, the riots were confined to UB and did not impact life here in Choibalsan. Discussions are underway between the political parties to redress grievances. We hope people will be able to resolve their differences and decide matters, peacefully.

Here is a related piece by Edward Wong that appeared in the International Herald Tribune:


A Challenge for Mongolia's Democracy
By Edward Wong
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia: The charred shells of two Soviet-style buildings rising from the center of this capital stand as a warning of the dangers of mixing vodka with voter frustration. In a barren land where nomads still gallop across pastures to polling booths, that potent mix led last week to the literal gutting of some of the country's most prominent political and cultural institutions. Now, with an election in dispute, Mongolia's fledgling democracy faces its biggest challenge since its birth in 1990.

Following cries of fraud in parliamentary elections - accusations that were disputed by international election observers - hundreds of rioters, many of them drunk attacked the headquarters of the dominant political party and the neighboring national art gallery on July 1. Fires were started. Five people were killed. More than 1,000 pieces of artwork were destroyed, damaged or looted.

"Poverty and corruption are eating away at our democracy," said Tsedevdamba Oyungerel, a Stanford-educated politician who ran for Parliament but lost (though she did receive 10 male horses as gifts while campaigning in the countryside.) To Oyungerel, who like many Mongolians goes by her given name, just as shocking as the violence was the government's reaction - it declared a four-day state of emergency, sent soldiers into the streets and shut down television and radio stations. The outburst of violence was without precedent in democratic Mongolia, and many here - from sheepherders to business executives - are deeply ashamed of what unfolded.
"I thought, 'This is totally wrong,' " said Gansuren, a bartender at a karaoke club.

Much is at stake for the United States as Mongolia struggles to right itself. With a population of three million scattered across a country the size of Alaska, it is, as one Mongolian leader put it last week, the only democracy between the Sea of Japan and Eastern Europe. Mongolia has supplied troops for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the former secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was given a horse when he visited in 2005 (he left it behind). "Since the overarching aim of our foreign policy is to promote the expansion of democratic society in the world, Mongolia is a poster child for that," said Mark Minton, the American ambassador here. "It's my strong belief that democracy is here to stay in Mongolia."

The state of emergency ended Sunday, and much seems back to normal now in the capital. A wedding couple poses for photos in the central square. A herder leads three loping camels through the streets. The Grand Khaan Irish Pub is packed. But the country faces two major problems: resolving the contentious election - the official results still have not been announced - and identifying the cause of the recent violence.

Though many Mongolians say the riot was a criminal act, the anger most likely bubbled up from economic frustrations. Inflation has soared to 26 percent, Mongolians complain about corruption, and officials disagree on control mining rights to the country's immense mineral wealth. Prime Minister Sanjaagiin Bayar defended the state of emergency on Saturday night, saying the government, which is ruled by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, was concerned with preventing further disturbances. But Oyungerel and other senior members of the main opposition group, the Democratic Party, accused the government of using the riot as a pretext for quashing dissent. The only television station allowed to broadcast from Wednesday to Saturday was the national network.

On the surface, Mongolia is an unlikely place for an experiment in democracy. The home of Genghis Khan, it is the most sparsely populated country in the world. Half the population still lives in round felt tents called gers, and livestock outnumber humans eight to one. Yet Mongolia's literacy rate is 98 percent, a legacy of nearly seven decades of Communist rule. The country held a constitutional referendum in 1990 and a vote in 1992 that led to its first democratic change of Parliament. Since then, it had held peaceful elections every four years - until June 29.

Preliminary results announced shortly after the voting showed that the MPRP won 45 seats; the Democratic Party 28 seats; and three small parties one seat each. Those numbers would give the governing party the majority it needs in the 76-seat Parliament to form a government. In a news conference on July 1, however, the leader of the Democratic Party and a former prime minister, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, accused the MPRP of vote fraud. That assertion was challenged by the 52 foreign observation teams that went to polling stations on June 29. "In each of those cases, in each of the instances where we observed any part of the process, we were struck by the degree of rigor," said Bill Infante, country representative for the Asia Foundation, a group that promotes democracy, whose observers visited 100 of about 1,700 stations.

Nevertheless, on the afternoon of July 1 several leaders of smaller parties held a rally at the capital's central plaza, Sukhbaatar Square. The protest began peacefully. But in time an angry crowd of young men formed in front of the five-story headquarters of the governing party, next to the square. Soon they were throwing rocks and storming the building. Police officers fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. Nothing worked. The rioters started fires at dusk. They broke into a duty-free shop on the first floor and grabbed the liquor. And some were already carrying bottles of cheap Mongolian vodka. "It was a pity to see how they were demolishing quite expensive drinks," said Sumati, a pollster here. "It's $30 or $40 a bottle. It's really not cheap."

Rioters barged into the museum next door, the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery. They set fire to the building at 11:30 p.m. and made off with some wood and ivory carvings, said Enkhtsetseg, the museum director. Two storage rooms with modernist oil paintings suffered fire damage, as did a wing of traditional art that included tapestries, paintings and carvings. Of the museum's 5,000 pieces, more than a fifth were destroyed, damaged or stolen, Enkhtsetseg said. None are insured.

"I have no idea how to put a value on this," she said as she chain-smoked in her office on Sunday (she had quit six years ago, but took it up again last week). "It's unique; we don't have anything like this. Most of the artists have passed away." Next door, in the home of a national orchestra, horse-head violins had been destroyed. The police arrested more than 700 people, and as of Saturday more than 200 were still in jail, Prime Minister Bayar said at a televised news conference that night. "The police are paying attention not to violate human rights or treat prisoners badly," he said.

But some Mongolians say prisoners have been tortured. Enkhtsetseg said a prisoner released on July 3 came to her office and showed her bruises on his back. He had been among a group of young men trying to save artwork the night of the riot but had been mistakenly arrested, Enkhtsetseg said.

As the country's leaders grapple with how to resolve the election, everyone knows nothing less than the future of Mongolia is at stake. "We made our democracy ourselves, we will defend it ourselves," Oyungerel said. "I love democracy. I want to give this society to my children."