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MDC tells rulers to honor polls

Mongolia's democrats demanded yesterday that the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party accept that it had lost power to an opposition coalition.

The MPRP, which held 72 of 76 parliamentary seats before Sunday's poll and had been confident of overwhelming victory, is contesting the outcome claiming voting irregularities.

Preliminary results showed the MPRP and the opposition Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC) deadlocked with 36 seats each in the Great Hural, or parliament.

The MDC says it has the support of three independents who also won seats. The last seat went to the small Mongolian Republican Party.

"The MDC is prepared to defend the people's choice and fight for its right to represent the people," the Democratic Party, one of three coalition members, said in a statement.

"We demand the MPRP recognize and respect the new choice made by the Mongolian people in democratic elections."

The commission still had to verify results from three far-flung constituencies in a country where half the 2.7 million people are nomads and many voters travelled to polls by horseback or camel.

"Because of the dispute in three constituencies, there will probably be no official results coming out today," commission official Oyuumaa said.

Outside the commission offices, scores of MDC supporters waved flags urging the body not to bow to MPRP demands for a new election.

MPRP chairman and Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar, a big fan of Tony Blair's New Labour Party, called on the General Election Commission to investigate what it termed irregularities in several constituencies.

"The MPRP is particularly concerned with the organized movement of large numbers of nonresidents into constituencies where their employers are candidates for the Motherland Democracy Coalition," he said.

Democratic candidate and former finance minister Puntsagiin Tsagaan said the MPRP, which ran the country as a one-party Soviet satellite for much of the last century, was afraid of losing power.

"It is one of the characteristics of the communists," he said. "They are afraid to lose power and be punished for corruption and bribery. They want to steal our victory."

Each side has accused the other of corruption and electoral irregularities.

An MDC victory would be a dramatic comeback for a movement swept from power by the MPRP four years ago.

Asked about the coalition's candidate for prime minister and its policies for the next four years, Tsagaan said it was too early to talk about these topics.

"We have to secure our victory first," he said.
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