And the result of the Mongolian jury...

If the far future of Mongolia is bright with kids like the two below the near future could face difficulties. Although I believe that the people voting for Elbegdorj sees just as bright a future. According to Reuters a win by Elbegdorj from the Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP) could complicate policymaking, e g on working with foreign investors to develop mining projects. This because of his track record of anti-foreign (except towards the US of course) and populist inclinations. This morning he marched out on Sukhbaataar Square and celebrated his victory at the foot of the Chinggis statue. Elbegdorj's supporters in Ulaanbaatar are problably happy though, for this change from the socialist Enkbayar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, MPRP. The MPRP do still have majority in the parliament, though.

Last time this situation occured it was Elbegdorj who was the prime minister and Bagabandi (MPRP) who was the president. Bagabandi, with his right to veto, managed to block every decision in parliament. The question is if Elbegdorj is man enough to turn the other cheek and become more constructive. And will the MPRP accept this or do as they did at the parliament elections before last, fight the current result in court? We do not believe that they will do as Elbegdorj did the last election, though, when his allegations of cheating led to riots. However, there may be constituencies that are unclear, the result is not yet final. What has happened this far is that Elbegdorj has pronounced himself the winner of the elections.

This year we sat through a vote count at Chingelteis constituency, no 6. It took all night. Instead of being finished at 2 o' clock, the (approx) 2 400 votes took hours to count, not to mention how long it took, four hours, to start counting the votes. The woman from the election committee was extreeemely thorough. When all votes were counted at 5 am she demanded a recount. One (1) vote was missing. Then we left and went back to the hotel to get some sleep having been there watching and taking photos for seven hours. In this constituency, a rather well off urban one, Elbegdorj seems to have won with 55 percent of the votes. We believe that this is not the result in ger districts (suburbs consisting of gers and small wooden houses, looking like shanty towns but being a way of still living in gers in the city). Or in the countryside. Here the MPRP is usually stronger. But this we have still to see.