Mongolia ruling party wins vote: spokesman

By Irja Halasz

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) has won parliamentary elections by a landslide, preliminary results showed on Thursday, after charges of election cheating sparked violence killing five people.

The MPRP took 47 seats out of 76 in the Great Hural, a decisive victory in Sunday's vote, General Election Committee spokesman Nergui told Reuters, as Mongolian authorities cleared away debris in the streets left by the deadly riots earlier in the week.

The opposition Democratic Party had won 26 seats, and the remaining seats were divided between minor parties, Nergui said.

If the opposition concedes defeat, the result would raise hopes for stability after a four-year period of fractious coalition rule that has undermined economic growth and held up long-delayed mining deals seen as key to lifting the windswept Central Asian nation out of poverty.

"These are preliminary results, but official results will be announced tomorrow," Nergui said.

Mongolia's President Nambariin Enkhbayar declared a four-day state of emergency late on Tuesday after the Democratic Party alleged election fraud, sparking riots that left 220 civilians and 108 servicemen injured in addition to the dead.

About 700 protesters have been detained.

International observers say the vote was largely fair.  Continued...