Communists reclaim power in Mongolia vote Landslide victory could limit freedoms, analysts say By Jeremy Page, Reuters, 7/4/2000 ULAN BATOR, Mongolia - Mongolia's former communist rulers have been swept back to power in a landslide election victory, state media said yesterday, crushing the forces that helped usher in democracy a decade ago. State radio said the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, had won 72 of 76 seats up for grabs in Sunday's election to Parliament, or Great Hural. Political analysts said the MPRP, which ruled for seven decades under Soviet patronage, was likely to slow the pace of capitalist-style reform in the impoverished Asian nation. It was riding a wave of popular anger against political gridlock under the divided Democratic Union coalition government and economic austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund. Many of Mongolia's 2.4 million people have been plunged into poverty. Immediately after its stunning win, the MPRP promised free education for orphans and children of poor herder families. Results were still trickling in from around a landlocked nation the size of western Europe. A total 75.8 percent of 1.2 million registered voters cast ballots. ''The full results have not come through yet but the MPRP has definitely won a large majority,'' said one election official. The MPRP's charismatic leader, Nambariin Enkhbayar, who studied English literature at Leeds University in Britain, was jubilant as the scope of the victory became apparent during the night. ''I'll open a bottle of champagne for every seat my party wins,'' he told reporters from his party headquarters, an austere Soviet-style building in Ulan Bator. The MPRP held just 26 seats in the outgoing Parliament. It was dumped from power in the last elections, in 1996. Enkhbayar signaled a roll-back of the industrial privatization program that was a centerpiece of the outgoing government. State industry is an MPRP power base, and influential party members have a stake in ensuring its survival. ''Mongolians are realizing these magic words like `privatization' don't bring a better quality of life automatically,'' he said. He indicated he would seek to renegotiate the terms of IMF aid to Mongolia. The IMF has insisted on fiscal and monetary tightening to bring down inflation and stabilize the currency, the togrog. Many Mongolians welcomed the prospect of strong government after years of messy democratic politics. ''People are dying of hunger and youngsters are turning to crime,'' said herder Chimeddorj, 67, as a crowd of MPRP supporters cheered outside party headquarters. ''The MPRP can lead our country out of this crisis of quarreling politicians and corrupt state officials,'' said the former policeman. There are fears that hard-line communist ideologues within the MPRP may seek to take advantage of the party's overwhelming majority in Parliament to restrict freedoms that have flourished since a peaceful democratic revolution led to elections in 1990, which the MPRP won. ''We'll have to watch very carefully for any retrograde movement on basic freedoms,'' said one Western diplomat. This story ran on page A02 of the Boston Globe on 7/4/2000. © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
Communists reclaim power in Mongolia vote Landslide victory could limit freedoms, analysts say By Jeremy Page, Reuters, 7/4/2000 ULAN BATOR, Mongolia - Mongolia's former communist rulers have been swept back to power in a landslide election victory, state media said yesterday, crushing the forces that helped usher in democracy a decade ago. State radio said the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, had won 72 of 76 seats up for grabs in Sunday's election to Parliament, or Great Hural. Political analysts said the MPRP, which ruled for seven decades under Soviet patronage, was likely to slow the pace of capitalist-style reform in the impoverished Asian nation. It was riding a wave of popular anger against political gridlock under the divided Democratic Union coalition government and economic austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund. Many of Mongolia's 2.4 million people have been plunged into poverty. Immediately after its stunning win, the MPRP promised free education for orphans and children of poor herder families. Results were still trickling in from around a landlocked nation the size of western Europe. A total 75.8 percent of 1.2 million registered voters cast ballots. ''The full results have not come through yet but the MPRP has definitely won a large majority,'' said one election official. The MPRP's charismatic leader, Nambariin Enkhbayar, who studied English literature at Leeds University in Britain, was jubilant as the scope of the victory became apparent during the night. ''I'll open a bottle of champagne for every seat my party wins,'' he told reporters from his party headquarters, an austere Soviet-style building in Ulan Bator. The MPRP held just 26 seats in the outgoing Parliament. It was dumped from power in the last elections, in 1996. Enkhbayar signaled a roll-back of the industrial privatization program that was a centerpiece of the outgoing government. State industry is an MPRP power base, and influential party members have a stake in ensuring its survival. ''Mongolians are realizing these magic words like `privatization' don't bring a better quality of life automatically,'' he said. He indicated he would seek to renegotiate the terms of IMF aid to Mongolia. The IMF has insisted on fiscal and monetary tightening to bring down inflation and stabilize the currency, the togrog. Many Mongolians welcomed the prospect of strong government after years of messy democratic politics. ''People are dying of hunger and youngsters are turning to crime,'' said herder Chimeddorj, 67, as a crowd of MPRP supporters cheered outside party headquarters. ''The MPRP can lead our country out of this crisis of quarreling politicians and corrupt state officials,'' said the former policeman. There are fears that hard-line communist ideologues within the MPRP may seek to take advantage of the party's overwhelming majority in Parliament to restrict freedoms that have flourished since a peaceful democratic revolution led to elections in 1990, which the MPRP won. ''We'll have to watch very carefully for any retrograde movement on basic freedoms,'' said one Western diplomat. This story ran on page A02 of the Boston Globe on 7/4/2000. © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
