By Xinhua,
Ulan Bator : Mongolians went to the polls Sunday morning to elect 76 members of the country’s parliament — the State Great Hural.
The election has registered 311 candidates nominated from 11 parties and one coalition, as well as 45 independent candidates. New parliament members will serve a four-year term.
There are 26 election districts in the country, from which two to four members of parliament will be elected. Starting from 7 a.m. local time (2300 GMT), the voting would close at 10 p.m. Sunday (1400 GMT) and the results will be released soon.
The State Great Hural is the supreme power organization of Mongolia. The new government will be established solely or jointly by parties that win seats in parliament.
Opinion polls showed that this year’s election will be a competition between the two main parties, the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the Democratic Party.
The MPRP, founded in 1921, formalized a democratic socialist concept as its ideological platform. During this year’s election campaign, the MPRP vowed to achieve stable development for the country and raise living standards of the Mongolian people.
According to the MPRP’s election platform, the annual economic growth rate will exceed 10 percent on average and the per capita GDP will reach 5,000 U.S. dollars by 2012.
Founded in 2000, the Democratic Party’s primary goals are to develop democracy, human rights and a free society. In 2008, the party had advanced 10 policies including fighting corruption, developing national industry and enhancing the exploitation of mineral deposits.