Mongolia Web News, Ulaanbaatar. Despite all the nastiness about the presidential election, there is some familiar language being used. The election slogans of Elbegdorj, the Presidential Candidate from the Democratic Party, seem to be reminiscent of a recent presidential candidate somewhere else in the world:
SHALL WE CHANGE?
Corruption and poverty are beyond the limit.
Unemployment and Unfairness have gained ground. State billionaires…
Big posters shout it into the streets of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar as well as the rural areas. On his campaign website there is special section where people can vote by SMS message if the want change in Mongolia. Not surprisingly an overwhelming majority votes yes.
Well, does it ring a bell? Sure it does. Only recently the words were hammered in our memory:
We need CHANGE
We want CHANGE
We can believe in CHANGE
Yes we can.
The words that helped Barack Obama become the 44th president of the United States. Now Elbegdorj hopes the echo of those words will make him the 4th president of Mongolia. As Obama he might benefit from the economical downturn which reflects bad on the incumbent president. But Elbegdorj is no Obama in the sense that he has been around in Mongolian politics for more than a decade: prime minister twice, vice speaker of parliament once, a member of parliament three times and three years for leader of the Democratic Party. Quite a different profile than newbie Obama. Both Barry and EB, as their popular names are, have shown a talent for raising people on their feet in big gatherings. Elbegdorj was one of the front fighters of the "velvet revolution" in the early 1990's, but also one of the political leaders calling for protests after the 2008 election. These protests ended in unforeseen violence and destruction on July 1st, last year.
Mongolia is eager for change: from lingering mining agreements to economic woes, but which candidate it will chose to do so, remains to be seen in this tight election race.
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