Troops began pulling back from the streets of the Mongolian capital yesterday and political leaders called for calm ahead of the lifting of emergency rule that was declared after rioting over alleged election fraud.
There was no sign of the tension that gripped the capital, Ulan Bator, just a few days ago, when stone-throwing mobs set the ruling party’s headquarters on fire in a night of violence that killed five people and prompted the president to declare emergency rule for the first time in Mongolia’s history.
“The political parties do not want renewed violence,” said Yondon Otgonbayar, chairman of the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP). “The primary task at this moment is to keep people quiet and bring back normalcy.”
Workers were shoveling charcoal debris out of the MPRP’s headquarters and authorities had erected a fence around the soot-covered building that stands as a reminder of the riot on Tuesday that was a rare outpouring of political violence.
But the security presence was light in Ulan Bator, with families enjoying the sunshine and tourists snapping photographs in the city’s main square.
Top politicians were locked in negotiations yesterday to try to work out their differences after allegations of electoral fraud caused deadly riots in the capital.
The heads of rival political parties were trying to find common ground to prevent any further violence, Otgonbayar said.
“I sincerely hope that the negotiations will be constructive,” he said.
The talks come ahead of the lifting of a four-day state of emergency at midnight yesterday.
Otgonbayar, whose party headquarters were gutted in a fire during the riots, said he held similar talks with his counterparts in other political parties earlier yesterday.
But the secretary general of the rival Democratic Party, which has accused the MPRP of fraud in last Sunday’s parliamentary elections, failed to turn up, Otgonbayar said.
“I urge the Democratic Party to come back to the negotiating table,” he said.
“The primary task is to give people quiet and to bring back normalcy, and this is possible only with the cooperation of all political parties, including the Democratic Party.”
The Democratic Party was alleging fraud and pressing for a recount and a possible re-vote in some constituencies, after preliminary results showed the MPRP won a clear majority in the 76-seat parliament, or Great Hural.
The election commission said final results would likely not come until tomorrow at the earliest.
International observers say the vote in the country that shook off decades of Soviet influence and staged its first democratic elections in 1990 was largely free and fair.
“If irregularities were undertaken or breaches of the law confirmed, there should be recounting first, and then if there is unfairness, a re-vote,” he said.
“We were fair in these elections. We are not afraid of re-voting or re-counting whatsoever,” Otgonbayar said.
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