Post-election riot in Mongolia underscores problems such as poverty

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) _ Mongolia's worst political violence in recent history left five people dead, buildings charred, and shocked citizens buffeted by swirling accusations and conspiracy theories.

Police and troops in riot gear patrolled bustling downtown Ulan Bator on Friday although calm had returned quickly to the sprawling, low-rise capital after Tuesday's rioting.

Beyond questions of 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 urbanization to corruption and skyrocketing inflation.

"We're going through a difficult period of political and economic transition where all parties need to harmonize and agree on some basic norms," Justice Minister Munk-Orgil told reporters as workers cleared away rubble from charred buildings a stone's throw away from his office.

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 neighbors.

At the same time, industries and services that supported the rural population have slowly collapsed, sending hundreds of thousands of migrants to the capital and the few other urban centers ill-equipped to deal with them. Per capita incomes among Mongolia's 3 million people average just US$1,500 per year, while most food and manufactured goods are imported.

Inflation, now running at 26 percent year-on-year, has exacerbated the strain of everyday life, although the country's mineral wealth offers a potential boon if exploited wisely.

In politics, Mongolia has remained solidly democratic, achieving a degree of transparency and accountability rarely seen in a region dominated by dictatorial leaders and single-party states. Elections have proceeded largely free of fraud or violence, making this week's carnage all the more shocking to Ulan Bator's residents.

"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," he said.

Violence broke out after results were announced in Sunday's parliamentary elections, in which the MPRP appeared to win an outright majority in the 76-seat body, known as the Grand Hural. Opposition leaders accused the ruling party of fraud, although the MPRP was leading in pre-election surveys and independent observers found no signs of systematic abuses. The national election commission has until July 10 to announce final results.

Large numbers of young men joined an opposition rally, some allegedly bused in. As night fell, they attacked the MPRP's nearby headquarters, smashing windows, looting offices and tossing gasoline bombs that set it ablaze. Unprepared for the violence, police were overwhelmed, and the mob, many of them reportedly drunk, quickly turned to looting and burning an adjacent cultural center and other buildings.

On Friday, more than 700 people remained in detention for questioning over the violence, while authorities said they were investigating police actions and reports that live ammunition may have been used against orders. One hundred officers and 200 civilians were injured.

The violence prompted President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, a ruling party member, to declare the country's first-ever state of emergency, due to end at midnight Friday. He has since met with opposition leaders to call for restraint while the electoral commission investigates whether recounts or possible new elections were needed.

Democratic Party Chairman Elbegdorj Tsahia has made some of the most sweeping accusations of fraud, accusing the MPRP of plotting to turn Mongolia into a one-party state. The MPRP — former communists who governed the country when it was a Soviet satellite — won 46 seats in the 76-seat parliament, with the Democrats taking 25, and independents claiming the remainder.

"First they steal elections, then declare state of emergency and use the military. They are copying the methods in other countries," Elbegdorj said in an interview Thursday.

Elbegdorj also called the riot a ruse by the MPRP to discredit the opposition and justify suppression, a view also echoed by other opposition leaders.

MPRP and government officials have vehemently denied the charges, with Munk-Orgil, also spelled Monkh-Orgil, calling them the "wildest allegations that I have ever heard in my life."

Despite his fiery rhetoric, however, Elbegdorj said he expects the dispute to be resolved peacefully through the legal system.

Another opposition leader, the Civil Alliance's Enkhbat Dangaasuren, warned that both the Democrats and the MPRP now faced intense pressure to head off future political crises by drawing a clear line between party and government.

"We know the election result was bad, but if the MPRP can agree to electoral reform, then democracy can survive," said Enkhbat, an Internet entrepreneur and relative political newcomer.

The violence and its fallout have been deeply traumatic for most Mongolians, who will be anxious to see the conflict resolved in a democratic fashion, said William S. Infante, Mongolia representative for The Asian Foundation, a nonprofit, non-governmental group headquartered in San Francisco that aims to improve governance, law, and civil society in the Asia-Pacific region.

For the majority of the population, local concerns — employment, education, and services — remain primary, Infante said. "I think we will continue to see a government committed to growth and development," he said.