So the state of emergency has been lifted. There seems to be some attempts at reconciliation and resolution to political differences.
According to new.mn, the GEC (General Election Committee) has decided to recount the votes at Khentii Aimag (province) constituency. The opposition parties are demanding vote recounts in 5 other provincial / aimag constituencies. After a meeting of party secretaries, they may demand to have re-election / vote recount in 19 of the total 26 constituencies.
Other suspicious pre-election activities have come to light, including the issuing of 120 thousand (!?!) identity cards during the days leading up to the election. The voters must present their ID cards at the polling stations to vote. Out of 1.5 million regsitered voters, 116 thousand were registered at two or more addresses. According to the report from new.mn, the 116 thousand were made up of 37 thousand people registered at 2-6 different addresses.
The Civil Registration Bureau has stated that they have issued 120 thousand replacement ID's for lost and stolen ID's during 28-29 July. However, the Bureau's reported daily capacity is 500 ID's, leading many to claim that the ID's were prepared much earlier.
It does look like the parties are working to resolve the disputes by peaceful means. PM S.Bayar has stated that the government will take every measure to prevent further violence.
In another news, Unuudur reported that there was an attempt, during the state of emergency, by a Chinese national driving a Toyota to infiltrate UB city's drinking water source. He was reported to be inebriated. I am not sure what to make of it. Is it an attempt by the media to use a drunk driver's blunder to create fear of foreign elements taking advantage of our political turmoil? Of course, if the report is true, it is something to worry about.
All in all, I am not completely convinced of peaceful times ahead. After the "Black Tuesday", as the Mongolians are now calling the day of the riots, Mongolia's political dynamics have changed drastically. Rumours of further riots abound, but then the Mongolian political life is full of unfounded rumours.
Journalists, on the other hand, are questioning the legitimacy of the media black-out during the state of emergency. Many have since pointed out the absence of any clause regarding media during a state of emergency. PM S.Bayar has stated that the law needs further developing. The lawmakers at the time, I am sure, did not expect a state of emergency would ever be declared.
Some links to foreign press articles:
- AFP - "Mongolia lifts state of emergency"
- Reuters - "No quick end in sight to Mongolia political turmoil"
Excerpts:
Bayar said it was too early to discuss the formation of a new cabinet until Mongolia's election commission announces a final result in the vote, a move that could come by Monday.
He also said it was still unclear that whether new elections in some areas were necessary, but that his party was not opposed to the idea.
Honestly some of the best overview of what's happening here in Mongolia. Thanks so much for running this blog, keep the updates come.
Jonathan - Erdenet
You should hear the rumors on the streets here these days: "A Mongolian could never break a muirin khuur, it had to have been Chinese" I heard someone say that! The Chinese get blamed for all kinds of strange stuff. But I urge everyone to use caution and don't believe everything you heard/read.
The next few days will be interesting.
Sidenote: is anyone else concerned about the amount of MYH (Mongol Ulsiin Naxi- ARIES graffiti around town? It seems to be on every building. I'm more afraid of these crazy nationalist movements than anything else
jonathan: thank you for the kind words.
ulaana: i am also very concerned about them, and also about the fact that most mongolians aren't doing enough to stop their growth. either they see these groups as a necessary evil or they are not taking them seriously yet.
The danger that ultranationalist totalitarian groups might increasingly gain influence is indeed very worrying. The situation in Mongolia today resembles Germany in the late 1920s early 30s. The majority of people are unemployed or underpaid and live in poverty, inflation and food prices are rising, the country is on the way to become deeply divided, politicians of all parties have proven to be unable or unwilling to improve the economical situation of large parts of the population, nationalism and conspiracy theories are thriving, and an ethnicity that is seen as part of a wicked power is made responsible for poisoning the water supplies and for causing all other evil that happens to the ‘pure blood’ majority population. Fascist outfit and ideas are seen as cool and trendy and an ultranationalist group had a successful PR gig by defending the Sukhbaatar District Police Precinct in the night of the riots. Police and other state services are not the only suspects for the killing of the four demonstrators. It would not be the first time that fascist groups cause chaos and then offer themselves as solution to restore law and order. But because it is unlikely that the question who shot them will ever be answered, this remains just another conspiracy theory.
Wah anonymous, I hear what you are saying, but I hope to god it doesn't go that way!
The rumor mill turns some more...I heard today that "the Chinese brought in rocks on trucks to throw at the MPRP building" That's a good one, huh? Importing rocks!
if MYH Aires knew anything about the Nazi movement they would be hiding in thier gers. Asian decents using the nazi symbology to promote their pure blood ideology need to think about the word hypocrysy. Or learn how to read english or germoan text books! These so called nazi idealists need to re-evaluate their circumstance and re-visit their history lessons.
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