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ULAN BATOR : Mongolia's leading politicians briefly set aside their differences on Friday and signed a joint declaration urging the nation against any repeat of this week's deadly election violence.
Members of conflicting parties agreed to work out a peaceful solution to their differences after allegations of fraud in Sunday's elections triggered riots in the capital Ulan Bator, Foreign Minister Sanjaasuren Oyun told AFP.
"We call all the people to follow the law, to respect the law and to resolve everything by peaceful means," she said.
The declaration, which was signed after a long meeting with President Nambariin Enkhbayar, attempted to prevent any further violence ahead of the lifting of a state of emergency on Saturday.
"Because of this disorder a lot of people suffered injuries and people died, and we express our condolences to the families," Oyun said.
The protests led to the deaths of five people, and the headquarters of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), which won the election, was set ablaze amid allegations votes were stolen from its Democratic Party rival.
A semblance of normality had returned to the streets of Ulan Bator on Friday despite the ongoing state of emergency -- a first for Mongolia.
Fewer soldiers and police patrolled the streets, and workers set about cleaning out the gutted carcass of the MPRP headquarters as others went about their normal business.
Justice Minister Munkh-Orgil told AFP that the state of emergency would be lifted on Saturday evening as planned, in a sign that the situation had calmed down.
But despite the release of the joint declaration, allegations of fraud thrown at political parties, particularly the MPRP and the Democratic Party, had yet to be resolved, leading to fears protests might erupt again.
"I think it (the declaration) will prevent any further violence, but it may not prevent any further rows between political parties and politicians," Oyun said.
The election triggered many complaints about irregularities and miscounting of votes.
But Oyun said the political parties had agreed to gather the complaints, file them to the General Election Commission, and to sit down to discuss how to resolve their differences through legal means.
It is still unclear how many of the 76 seats are being disputed, but the law requires a minimum of 57 seats for parliament to function normally, according to Oyun.
The violence on Tuesday has become recognised as a particularly dark moment in Mongolia's recent history, as the nation shook off seven decades of communist rule in 1990 without a shot being fired.
The first elections were held in 1992 and, although the nation of about three million people has since struggled with corruption and a growing rich-poor divide, the democratic process had proceeded without violence.
While the political tensions of Sunday's elections were the trigger for riots, experts also said economic factors such as high unemployment and the growing rich-poor divide were also important.
- AFP /ls
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