The main opposition Mongolian People's Party (MPP) won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held on June 29, luring back disillusioned voters amid a sharp economic slowdown and rising unemployment.
The MPP won 65 of the 76 seats in the national parliament, the State Great Khural, according to preliminary results. The capital Ulaanbaatar’s election committee said the voter turnout stood at 70.4% - 593,999 Mongolia citizens voted out of the registered 843,689, state-run Montsame news agency reported on June 30. MPP secured 34 out of 45 seats represented by Ulaanbaatar. The capital accounts for roughly half of the country’s population. Official results will be available later on June 30.
MPP is taking back power from the Democratic Party, which has ruled the country during the past four years presiding over an economy that has gone from booming to flat. The country has struggled to adapt to neighbouring China's shrinking appetite for copper and coal, which has hit commodities prices. Mongolia has borrowed billions of dollars in sovereign debt since 2012, resulting in a negative outlook from Moody’s rating agency.
The MPP, which has led the country for most of its quarter of a century as a democracy, was credited for luring investors to Mongolia.
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