Analysis | ‘Crooks, liars and oligarchs’: corruption scandals and ethnic Chinese mud-slinging mar Mongolia's presidential vote
Frustrations around the negative campaigns have fuelled speculation that voters will cast an unprecedented number of blank ballots as a protest vote
Mongolians pick a new president Monday after a campaign marred by corruption scandals plaguing all three candidates, from jobs for cash to offshore accounts and donations from an alleged cult.
The allegations have sapped enthusiasm among voters in a country that remains mired in poverty despite having billions of dollars worth of natural resources buried beneath its sprawling steppes.
“We are forced to choose the lesser of three evils,” Dugersurengiin Sukhjargalmaa, a former member of the Mongolia People’s Party (MPP) and advisor for national gender justice organisation MONFEMNET, said.
The candidates are Mieygombo Enkhbold for the Mongolian People’s Party - which controls the parliament - Khaltmaa Battulga for the opposition Democratic Party (DP) and Sainkhuu Ganbaatar for the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party.
The outgoing president, DP’s Tsakhia Elbegdorj, is not running because he has served the maximum two four-year terms.
While Enkhbold is favoured by Mongolia’s older stock as the most stable, credentialed choice, his campaign has been plagued by a video recording that allegedly shows the candidate and two MPP officials discussing a $60 billion tugrik (US$25 million) plan for selling government positions.