Hundreds of supporters of Mongolia's opposition democratic alliance rallied in the capital Ulan Bator yesterday, waving flags and chanting slogans claiming to have won last week's election.
"We thank the nation for making a new choice," one banner read as youngsters, workers, middle-aged couples and children gathered in front of Democratic Party headquarters.
But Sunday's elections were too close to call in the vast, wind-swept nation of grasslands and nomadic herders, hours after opposition activists briefly took over state television claiming a poll victory.
The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) had 36 confirmed seats in the 76-seat parliament and the opposition Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC) had 34, an election official said.
The Democrats claim victory with the support of three independents, but two of the coalition-held constituencies will hold run-off elections at three polling stations today after complaints of irregularities -- meaning either side could win.
"We have had 150 requests to investigate potential violations of election laws," election official Oyuumaa said, adding there was not enough time to check them all. "Right now there is no way we can predict what the result will be."
The MDC said it would challenge any new votes.
"If the re-votes take place, the opposition will take the decision to the constitutional court because there are no legal reasons for the re-vote to take place," MP Oyun said.
"I think the longer it takes [to produce a final election result], the more there is a possibility of a political crisis and negative consequences," she said.
The MDC, angry about being denied air time, took over state television briefly on Thursday and demanded on air that the election results be recognized.
After the broadcast was over, democratic leaders came out of the building and urged the hundreds of supporters, demonstrating peacefully outside, to go home, a witness said. The crowd dispersed without incident.
"I am not ruling out that this is the beginning of a very protracted and long constitutional and government crisis," a senior MPRP official said yesterday.
He said there had been "altercations" with police when the crowd, which he put at about 400 people, stormed the TV building, roughed up the director of national television and held him until the MDC was given air time.
The MPRP held 72 of parliament's 76 seats before Sunday's poll and had been confident of victory in the sparsely populated country, landlocked between Russia and China, before the opposition's surprise showing.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese