Mongolia lifts state of emergency
A four-day state of emergency in Mongolia ended early today after violent election riots last week left five people dead, 300 injured, and hundreds detained in this fledgling democracy.
The country’s sprawling, low-rise capital Ulan Bator had returned to normal by today, with little sign of police and military patrols launched after the country’s first-ever state of emergency was declared in response to Tuesday’s riot.
Beyond questions of security and responsibility, though, the attack on the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party headquarters comes at time of deep unease for the young democracy, with problems ranging from rapid urbanisation to corruption and skyrocketing inflation.
“We’re going through a difficult period of political and economic transition where all parties need to harmonise and agree on some basic norms,” Justice Minister Munk-Orgil told reporters.
Squeezed between China and Russia, Mongolia has walked a tightrope since throwing off communism in 1990, seeking to diversify its economy and foreign relations to avoid being dominated by its powerful neighbours.
At the same time, industries and services that supported the rural population have slowly collapsed, sending hundreds of thousands of migrants flooding into tent camps and slums in the capital and the few other urban centres that are ill-equipped to deal with them.
Violence broke out after results were announced in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in which the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party appeared to win an outright majority in the 76-seat body.
Opposition leaders accused the MPRP of fraud, although independent observers found no signs of systematic abuses.
The national election commission has until July 10 to announce final results.
The rioting left five people dead, 300 injured and 700 under arrest. The MPRP headquarters was set on fire and other buildings looted.
“It may have started as some sort of political thing,” said shopkeeper S. Altai, who like many in the city supports the main opposition Democratic Party. “In the end, though, it was just criminal.”
The violence prompted President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, a ruling party member, to declare the country’s first-ever state of emergency.
