The official results of Wednesday’s Mongolia parliamentary election have been announced: The Mongolian People’s Party, which is the country’s ruling party, has won 62 seats in a landslide victory, while the once formidable opposition Democratic Party won a meagre 11 seats; the Right Person Electorate Coalition and Our Coalition, which is run by former President N.Enkhbayar, each took one seat respectively. Out of a record 121 independent candidates Mr. N.Altankhuyag won a seat.  Among Democratic Party’s winners, J.Erdenebat who was recently  imprisoned in the 461^st detention centre pending trial in a highly controversial case, also won a seat in the State Great Khural.

Election rules have been revised this year to allow two to three members of parliament to be elected from a single district, resulting in over 600 candidates running in 29 constituencies.

Mongolia is the second country after South Korea to hold national elections during the coronavirus pandemic. The parliamentary elections are the country’s eighth since it adopted a new constitution in 1992 at the end of more than 60 years of Communist rule.

The Mongolian People’s Party won 65 seats of the 76-seat State Great Khural in a landslide victory in 2016.

The opposition Democratic Party (DP) hit a six-year low in its popularity among voters dropping below 30% for the first time since 2013. The DP currently lacks an energetic leader similar to the MPP. ​Other smaller political parties of Mongolia stood little chance this election.