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ULAN BATOR : Mongolia's political parties ended talks on Sunday failing to agree on how to address complaints over last week's elections after allegations of fraud led to deadly riots in the capital.
Yondon Otgonbayar, secretary general of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), told AFP the talks would continue Monday after the opposing parties could not reach agreement.
"All the issues are still under discussion and the meeting is postponed until tomorrow morning," he said.
Allegations of vote fraud led to violent riots on Tuesday in which five people were killed and the headquarters of the MPRP, which won last Sunday's election, was burnt down.
"They are coming up with a list of constituencies where political parties want to have a recount or a revote, and a list of complaints and irregularities they want to solve," Foreign Minister Sanjaasuren Oyun said earlier.
The talks, which came after the government on Saturday midnight lifted a state of emergency imposed after the riots, brought hope that the violence would not re-erupt while the two main political parties - the MPRP and the Democratic Party - negotiated a solution.
"I think the fact that the political parties are sitting around the table is a good sign," Oyun said.
Locals strolled leisurely on the streets of the capital Sunday and past the huge statue of Genghis Khan on Parliament Square. Most seemed relaxed about the lifting of the four-day state of emergency.
"Today it is very nice, people are relaxed and I don't feel any tensions," said Batbaatar Namsrai, a 40-year-old man strolling on Peace Avenue near Parliament Square.
Television and radio channels that had been temporarily shut down during the state of emergency were also back on the air.
Residents said they hoped there would be no repeat of the violent protests but police were being extra vigilant around the square, located just 200 metres (yards) from the burnt out MPRP headquarters.
Police cars were stationed around the square, and any vehicle that tried to stop to let off passengers was quickly waved away in a sign that authorities were on the look-out for any sign of unrest.
Some locals too expressed concern over the possibility of renewed violence.
"I can't say today that nothing will happen, and I think tonight will show how things are going to go," said Byambaa Gambal, 63, who owns a small business in the centre of the city.
A joint declaration signed by the conflicting parties on Friday, urging against any further violence and pledging to resolve their differences peacefully, also helped alleviate the tension.
It was still unclear how many of the 76 parliamentary seats were being disputed, but the law requires a minimum of 57 seats for parliament to function normally, according to Oyun.
She said that the final, confirmed results of the election had to be announced within 15 days of the poll and any recount or re-voting must be done by a July 14 deadline.
The violence on Tuesday is seen as a particularly dark moment in Mongolia's recent history.
The nation shook off seven decades of communist rule in 1990 without a shot being fired, and the first elections were held in 1992.
Since then, despite its struggles with corruption and a growing rich-poor divide, the democratic process in the country of about three million people had proceeded without violence. - AFP/de
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