Миний Монгол

Mongolia's main opposition Democratic Party emerged triumphant on Monday from presidential elections in the landlocked nation that saw violent riots after disputed parliamentary polls last year. 

Democratic Party candidate Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj declared victory before a jubilant crowd of thousands of supporters in the capital Ulan Bator, pledging an "honest" term in office

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"I will be an honest president, for not just the Democratic Party but all Mongolian people," Elbegdorj told the crowd, gathered in the city's main public square under a huge statue of national hero Genghis Khan.

Elbegdorj, one of the leaders of a peaceful 1990 revolution that overthrew 70 years of communist rule, spoke after state media declared him the victor in Sunday's contest against incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar of the ex-communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).

Although official results were yet to be released, state media reported that Enkhbayar had conceded defeat.

Citizens For Justice, a Mongolian non-governmental organisation, said Elbegdorj, also a former prime minister, won with 53.7 percent of the vote.

The post is officially supposed to be a ceremonial one, but recent Mongolian presidents have wielded significant political clout.

Although some Democratic Party supporters celebrated in the streets, the city was largely calm with no violence reported.

Last July, thousands rioted in Ulan Bator, leaving five people dead, following a disputed parliamentary election win by the MPRP in June.

The eventual MPRP prime minister, Sanj Bayar, accused Elbegdorj of triggering the riots by alleging vote-rigging by the former communist party, which ruled the country in Stalinist fashion when it was a Soviet satellite.

Thousands of people battled riot police in the unrest last July.

Economic issues took centre stage in the presidential campaigning in a country -- sandwiched between Russia and China -- where more than one-third of the population lives below the poverty line.

The global economic crisis has led to plummeting mineral prices in a nation that relies heavily on resources such as copper, coal and gold, triggering a rise in unemployment.

However, some voters said they saw little difference between the two candidates, largely because their parties are partners in a parliamentary coalition pursuing roughly the same policies.

Democratic Party supporter Denkhangalan, who like many Mongolians goes by just one name, expressed relief that the polls had been peaceful.

"If the last election had been honest it would have been as peaceful as this," he told AFP.

Elections in Mongolia -- one of the world's youngest democracies -- are routinely plagued by charges of fraud and bribery.

In an attempt to prevent electoral fraud, Mongolians for the first time were required to present a special voter card when entering polling booths, as well as their identity documents.

Mongolia shook off communist rule in 1990 without a shot being fired, and the first democratic elections were held in 1992.