Translated material
Fire Yurt Revolution
The chaos in Ulaanbaatar had an orange tint
Mass riots in the capital of Mongolia , provoked by the opposition’s demonstrative refusal to recognize the results of the parliamentary elections, have already received the name “yurt revolution” abroad. However, after the orgy of pogroms the day before yesterday, there was a lull in Ulaanbaatar yesterday. The authorities promptly used force, and President Nambaryn Enkhbayar declared a state of emergency in the capital. According to the Mongolian Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of the unrest that began on Tuesday and lasted all night, five people were killed in the city. About 400 were injured, including about a hundred law enforcement officers, 30 of them were hospitalized. A Japanese journalist is in intensive care; no Russian citizens were injured. 720 people were arrested, no political activists among them.Order in Ulaanbaatar was maintained yesterday by two thousand military and police officers in bulletproof vests and armored personnel carriers. They cordoned off all government institutions in the city center and took control of the most important facilities and communications. The press was not allowed into the parliamentary building of the State Great Khural, which was preparing to consider the legality of introducing a state of emergency. All television channels have stopped broadcasting in the country except Mongolian National Television. Yesterday it showed casualties and the shocking aftermath of mob violence, including the burning headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
Unrest in Ulaanbaatar began after the largest opposition force, the Democratic Party of Mongolia (DPM), announced that the results of Sunday's parliamentary elections were falsified. After reviewing the preliminary calculations, the leader of the PDM, ex-Prime Minister Tsakhiyagiin Elbegdorj, held a press conference and stated that up to 45% of the votes were “stolen” from the PDM. He demanded a recount of ballots or new elections. Although the MPRP leadership claimed that the party had received up to 50 seats in the 76-seat parliament, President Enkhbayar did not rule out the possibility of a compromise. Speaking on television, he invited his opponents to agree: “Let’s sit down together and discuss the issue of fraud.”
But the conversation didn't work out. A crowd of 1,500 gathered around PDM activists seized the MPRP headquarters on Tuesday and set it on fire. According to eyewitnesses, the rioters were supplied with homemade incendiary bombs, plastic bottles with paint and stones. The MONTSAME news agency reports that “the instigators of the riots not only did not allow the fire trucks to make their way through, but also completely destroyed one of them.” In the store located in the headquarters building, all stocks of national archi vodka and other strong drinks were looted. Later, about 300 people were admitted to the central sobering-up center, and the sale of alcohol was banned everywhere in the capital.
The matter was not limited to the headquarters of the ruling party. A cultural center was looted and set on fire, including the National Gallery of Art, the building of the Union of Architects, newspaper offices and dozens of offices. After the appearance of wounded among the police and internal troops, rubber bullets and tear gas were used against the rioters. Doctors say that among the five dead, two were shot, one died from carbon monoxide in a fire in the MPRP building. The confrontation and firefighting ended by six in the morning.
Let us recall that in January 2006, PDM supporters already stormed the headquarters of the MPRP. Then the coalition government led by Elbegdorj became illegitimate after the ministers from the MPRP left it. After the unrest was suppressed, a new government was formed, headed by the MPRP.
Recently, relations between Russia and Mongolia have picked up pace. In May of this year, President Enkhbayar met with the new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in April Prime Minister Sanjaagiin Bayar spoke with Vladimir Putin, and in March the MPRP signed a cooperation agreement with United Russia. The head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Mikhail Margelov, believes that events took place in Ulaanbaatar “with obvious signs of the Orange Revolution,” but Mongolia “will be able to turn the situation into a legal direction, since the country is moving along the path of democracy.” According to the senator, although the pro-Western PDM did not recognize the victory of the MPRP, “international observers did not find any significant violations of election procedures.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the elections in Mongolia were held “in accordance with the law and democratic principles, in an organized manner and without serious violations.” On Smolenskaya Square, the introduction of a state of emergency in Ulaanbaatar was regarded as a forced measure that “will contribute to the speedy normalization of the situation in the country.” Moscow “is watching with concern the development of the situation in friendly Mongolia, categorically condemns extremist illegal actions” and is convinced that disagreements between political forces “can and should be resolved within the framework of the Constitution of Mongolia.”
“Any protest like what happened in Ulaanbaatar is a failure of democracy, and not a “color revolution.” Both the ruling party and the opposition bear responsibility for the unrest, since democracy, to which they claim to be committed, is the basis of stability. If the principles of democracy are not observed, there is always a threat of crisis,” Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vasily Mikheev told Vremya Novostey. According to the scientist, “if people are not satisfied with voting at the polling station, do not believe in the power of the ballot, and take to the streets, this is a sign of the weakness of democratic institutions and the need to strengthen them.”