Mongolia's opposition democrats claimed what would be a stunning victory yesterday in parliamentary elections disputed by Prime Min-ister Nambaryn Enkhbayar who accused his rivals of widespread vote-rigging.
The prime minister's Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and Motherland Democratic Coalition (MDC) each won 36 seats in the Great Hural, or parliament, election committee officials said citing the first official preliminary result.
PHOTO: AFP
If officially confirmed by the election committee, the result would be a dramatic reversal for the MPRP, which had 72 seats in the 76-seat parliament before Sunday's polls and had been confident of an overwhelming victory.
The democratic coalition claimed victory by including three seats among their independent allies, which would mark a comeback for the democrats who were swept from power by the MPRP four years ago.
"The preliminary result is that the MPRP has 36 seats, the MDC has 36 seats, independents have three seats and the Mongolian Republican Party has one seat," said committee chairman Yadamsuren.
He said an official announcement was likely today after the commission verified results phoned in from 12 far-flung constituencies in a country where half the 2.7 million people are nomads and many voters travelled to polls by horseback or camel.
The MPRP, which ruled Mongolia for much of the 20th century as a one-party Soviet satellite, had been widely expected to skate to an easy victory after four years of economic stability in the impoverished country.
Now, Enkhbayar faces being ousted, though not without a fight.
"He [Enkhbayar] said there was a certain amount of irregularities in certain constituencies," said Tjalling Halbertsma, an adviser to the party chairman, citing the movement of people to vote outside their constituencies.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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