TO ENSURE EVERYONE had a chance to vote in Sunday's elections in Mongolia, Altangerel was one of the election officials dispatched to outlying areas carrying a mobile ballot box for the herdsmen unable to come into town. Dressed in his best silk del - the robe-like garment that is Mongolia's national costume - tied round the waist with an orange sash, Mr Altangerel brought one of the five boxes back to the voting booths in the school hall in the rural village of Gachuurt. 'Everyone wanted to vote,' he said, pushing back his Trilby hat after visiting 28 families, some who lived more than 50 kilometres away. About 2,000 voters had a choice of eight political parties, and monitors from each of them sat in row in the hall keeping a strict eye on the balloting. 'In the old days, no one cared and everyone would get drunk on fermented mare's milk,' said one of the women from the Motherland Party. Mongolia used to hold the kind of elections in which 99.9 per cent voted for the Communist Party. This, the third free elections since democracy was introduced 10 years ago, was being taken very seriously. Nomad horsemen had ridden in early to be there as the doors opened. In Gachuurt, some of those questioned said they wanted to bring back the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), the former communists, which has strong backing in rural constituencies and among the elderly. 'They have more experience,' said 19-year-old herdsman Gamtsoig from the saddle as he prepared to ride back to his herd. Back in the capital, Ulan Bator, Deputy Colonel Dender Baatar (retired) emerged from the voting booth with his wife. Both had dressed up in their Sunday best and made an impressive picture. The two had been life-long believers in the communist system and were clear about how they had voted. 'You cannot blame young people in the democratic parties for making mistakes,' the colonel said, generously. Another lady, dressed in her silk finery from the same generation, took a different tack. 'The old should support young people and allow them to learn how to do their jobs and gain experience.' Mongolian elections seem to put young against old, and town against country. The young filing in to vote dressed casually in the global fashions - jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, giant platform shoes or trainers. In the end, the MPRP stormed back to power, ousting the Democratic Union with a massive majority in the 76-seat Hural. But with more than half the 1.25 million eligible voters now under 25, and as many urban-dwellers, Mongolia's demographics are changing, and so is the political future of this former Soviet-dominated country. Jasper Becker is the Post's Beijing bureau chief ( jasper@a-1.net.cn )
