By KUNA,
Tokyo : Mongolian President Nambariin Enkhbayar has declared a four-day state of emergency in the capital amid violent protests over alleged fraud in the weekend parliamentary elections, according to media reports on Wednesday.
The state of emergency came into effect at 11:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) Tuesday, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said, citing local public television. A curfew from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. was also imposed, a presidential decree read out on the Ulan Bator-based state-run television said.
The decree also banned public gatherings and independent media broadcasts, said Xinhua, adding that army troops have moved into a square in the center of the Mongolian capital to boost security. The declaration of emergency came after thousands of people took to the streets of Ulan Bator Tuesday to vent their outrage at alleged rigging in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. Four people died and about 400 policemen were injured, while 480 people were detained in the massive protests, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported in a dispatch from Ulan Bator. Among the injured is a Japanese employee of Tokyo’s television who suffered a head injury while covering the protests, it said.
Protesters also stormed the headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP). Electoral authorities are yet to release the final results of the vote, but local media reported that the MPRP won 47 out of 76 seats in parliament, or Great Hural. Earlier on Tuesday, the Mongolian Democratic Party, which reportedly won 27 seats in parliament, called for a recount of ballots.
Parliamentary elections are held every four years in Mongolia.