----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 02, 2000 11:40 AM Subject: [L-I] Former communists sweep Mongolia local elections > Former communists sweep Mongolia local elections > > ULAN BATOR, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Mongolia's former communist rulers won a > landslide victory in local elections, two months after they swept back to > power in parliamentary polls, election officials said on Monday. > > Preliminary results of Sunday's vote showed the Mongolian People's > Revolutionary Party (MPRP), which ruled for seven decades under Soviet > patronage, won 552 of the 695 seats up for grabs in the provincial and Ulan > Bator governments, the officials said. > > Prime Minister Nambariin Enkhbayar, leader of the MPRP, hailed the victory as > a ringing endorsement of his new government's policies. > > ``These elections were a test...and the voters confirmed their support to the > MPRP,'' he told a news conference. > > ``People supported the MPRP policies and this is a step forward which makes > it possible for the MPRP government to carry out its new programme.'' > > The government has promised to improve social welfare, develop rural areas, > and protect domestic industry with 10 percent import taxes. > > However, many failed to vote due to election fatigue after the July poll and > some confusion over new election procedures, said Enkhbayar. > > About 61 percent of a total of 1.1 million registered voters came to the > polls, down from more than 80 percent in July. > > In some areas, mainly Ulan Bator, polls may have to be repeated because voter > turnout did not meet the minimum limit of 50 percent, election officials > said. > > The Democratic Forces coalition won 87 local government seats, while > independent candidates and small parties got 31 seats. > > The MPRP ruled Mongolia for 75 years until it was booted out of power by the > Democratic Union Coalition in a 1996 election. But the former Communists won > a resounding 72 of 76 seats in the Great Hural, or parliament, last July. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leninist-International mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
