Mongolians started voting in parliamentary elections on Friday, with the ruling party anticipated to secure victory despite growing public discontent over corruption and economic conditions.
Citizens throughout the expansive and thinly populated nation of 3.4 million people, situated between authoritarian China and Russia, are exercising their democratic rights to choose 126 members of the State Great Khural.
Polling stations opened at 7 am local time (2300 GMT Thursday), as observed by AFP reporters in the capital Ulaanbaatar and at a distant polling location. Voting will continue until 10 pm.
At a polling station in rural Sergelen, an administrative division located more than an hour’s drive from the capital, election workers in traditional attire stood for the national anthem before opening the doors to the public.
Voters streamed into the voting station, with some taking selfies after casting their ballots, as witnessed by AFP reporters.
Among them was Batsaikan Battseren, a 45-year-old local community leader representing the ruling party, who expressed his encouragement for people to participate in the polls.
“Our area’s average participation is 60 percent,” the former herder said, dressed head to toe in a traditional Mongolian deel.
But, he explained, “young people from 18 to 30 years old don’t go to vote”.
“In previous elections, I would usually bring the youngsters who have just turned 18 to let them vote, but I couldn’t this year,” he said.
Analysts anticipate that the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), under the leadership of Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, will maintain the majority it has held since 2016 and continue governing the resource-rich country for another four years.
However, there is significant public frustration regarding widespread corruption, high living costs, and limited opportunities for young people, who constitute nearly two-thirds of the population.
Moreover, there is a pervasive perception that the benefits of a decade-long coal mining boom, which fueled double-digit economic growth, are being concentrated among a wealthy elite rather than benefiting the broader population.
Preliminary results are expected to come within a few hours despite Mongolia’s vast size, thanks to automated vote counting.
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