Preliminary results released early on Saturday June 29 show Mongolia’s governing party won Friday’s parliamentary election—but only by a thin margin.

The data indicated that the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) won 68 seats in the legislature, expanded to 126 seats ahead of the poll. Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai stated that the MPP “has won the election”, but the implied majority is thin compared to what the MPP enjoyed in the previous parliament—62 seats in a 76-seat chamber.

Corruption, inequality and pollution were key concerns for voters.

Official results were yet to be announced, due to the difficulties of gathering results from far-flung corners of the nation, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Mongolian media outlets assessed on available data that the opposition economically liberal Democratic Party won 42 seats, while the centre-right HUN Party and two smaller parties looked on course to take the remaining 16 seats in the parliament, the State Great Khural.

“Through this election, people gave their evaluation on the past policy mistakes of the ruling party,” Democratic Party leader Gantumur Luvsannyam, was quoted as saying by the AP.

Seventy eight of the 126 seats will be filled by direct voting, while 48 will be awarded based on party lists.

International observers of the poll said in a June 29 statement released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) that the election was well run and candidates could campaign freely overall, but competitiveness was negatively affected by the lack of a level playing field and a series of pay rises and social benefit increases in the run-up to the elections gave an unjust advantage to the ruling party.

“While the parliamentary elections were technically well-organized, they were characterized by the lack of a level playing field, and heavily favoured the ruling party,” said Ambassador Jennifer Brush, who headed ODIHR’s election observation mission. “It was good to see the new election legislation resulted in a larger parliament with increased political plurality and more women, and we hope that the new parliament will work to address the overall deterioration of freedom of speech and the media.” 

Around 2.2mn voters were eligible to vote among a population of 3.4mn.

The MPP is the successor to the Communist party that ruled Mongolia for almost 70 years. It is often described as still popular with older, rural voters, but not so attractive to many among the young generations. It boasts an extensive campaigning network.

The Democratic Party is widely viewed as divided and carrying the baggage of pro-market policies that are frequently criticised for the country's stark and persistent income inequality.

The MPP’s difficulties in convincing voters that it is working effectively at removing the tight grip of widespread corruption in Mongolia hit big turbulence in late 2022 when livid crowds took to the streets as a “coal mafia” scandal, involving the embezzlement of stupendous amounts of export revenues, was exposed.