Mongolians head to the polls tomorrow to elect a new president in a tight race that will help determine when and how the country will reach consensus on working with foreign investors to tap its vast mineral wealth.
A pressing issue at stake is whether parliament can quickly ratify a long-awaited draft investment agreement on the US$3 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project, set to be developed by Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto.
While the office of president is largely ceremonial, the contest over that symbol of national unity has already distracted parliament from working on approving the landmark agreement. Any disputes over the election’s outcome could further push back progress.
A victory by opposition Democratic Party (DP) candidate Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj over incumbent Nambariin Enkhbayar of the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) could set back foreign investors’ long-term interests.
“If Elbegdorj wins, that would be a pretty strong signal of probably more complications in policymaking over mining, given his track record on anti-foreign and populist inclinations,” said Damien Ma, of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Mongolia, whose annual per-capita income is about US$1,200, wants to use its deposits of copper, gold, uranium, lead, zinc, and coal to pull its nearly 3 million people out of poverty.
The government’s desire to formulate the Oyu Tolgoi deal as a template for future mining projects has meant negotiations have dragged on for years, as Mongolia seeks to ensure it obtains more favorable terms than with past projects.
But sealing the deal quickly is important if Mongolia hopes to realize its ambitions of becoming a mining powerhouse and take advantage of the next upturn in commodity prices.
In the meantime nearly US$1 billion in foreign loans and grants are helping Mongolia, a vast, windswept country wedged between Russia and China, through a collapse in mineral prices, particularly for its biggest export, copper, that has seriously dented income.
Any repeat of the type of unrest and ensuing legal struggles that followed last year’s parliamentary elections, in which at least five died, could postpone the Oyu Tolgoi project and other investments further, just when the country most needs to secure future sources of revenue, Ma said.
If any post-election disruptions to progress on mining were serious, there could even be a “low, but slight uptick” in the risk that Ivanhoe or Rio Tinto could become so disenchanted that they would think twice about Oyu Tolgoi, he said.
Frustration over rampant poverty and perceptions of official corruption appear to be working in favor of challenger Elbegdorj, said Luvsandendev Sumati, director of the Sant Maral Foundation, a group that does polling and surveys.
A poll by the foundation late last month showed that 37 percent of voters favored Elbegdorj, while just more than 36 percent would vote for Enkhbayar.
Polling is not permitted during the seven days prior to the election and exit polls are also banned, but Sumati said there were signs Elbegdorj had been gaining among constituencies that have traditionally favored the ruling MPRP.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS