Mongolia economy, graft and China in spotlight as voters elect president
The resource-rich nation of just three million has struggled in recent years with mounting debt and low voter turnout
Polling stations opened throughout Mongolia’s cities, townships and prairies on Monday as nearly two million residents were asked to choose a new president amid worries about corruption and the state of the resource-dominated economy.
Most voters expect a two-horse race between the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) candidate Mieygombo Enkhbold, an investment-friendly career politician, and former martial arts star and resource nationalist Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party.
But Sainkhuu Ganbaatar of the breakaway Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) could win enough votes to force a second round in two weeks.
Herders living in Mongolia’s countryside, who represent around a third of the population, have already cast ballots at mobile polling booths in an election seen as a referendum on both economic policy and China’s role in Mongolia’s development.
Remote and landlocked Mongolia, best known as the birthplace of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan, is a parliamentary democracy and elected a new government last year. The presidential vote will serve as a crucial barometer of public opinion as the ruling MPP tries to steer the country out of an economic crisis.