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               Mongolia's Elbegdorj Wins Second Term as President

   Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia has won a second term, in an
   election dominated by a debate over the country`s vast mining wealth.
   Preliminary results Thursday show President Elbegdorj took 50.2 percent
   of the previous day`s vote, narrowly clearing the 50 percent needed to
   avoid a run-off.
   His main challenger, opposition lawmaker and former pro-wrestler
   Baterdene Badmaanyambuu, received nearly 42 percent. The country`s
   first female presidential candidate, Health Minister Natsag Udval, came
   in a distant third place.
   Mr. Elbegdorj is a Harvard-educated former journalist who campaigned on
   promises of fighting corruption and continuing his policy of using
   foreign cash to power Mongolia`s rapidly growing economy.
   The election was closely watched by foreign mining giants who have
   moved into the resource-rich country to exploit its still largely
   untapped reserves of gold, copper and iron.
   While President Elbegdorj has advocated a free market economy, he has
   also moved toward heavier regulation of foreign investments and passed
   laws aimed at extracting more profits from foreign mining operations.
   The foreign investment as a result of the mining boom has helped make
   Mongolia one of the world`s fastest growing economies. Its GDP grew an
   astonishing 17 percent in 2011 and 12 percent last year.
   But many Mongolians complain they have not benefited from the newfound
   wealth, with a third of the country`s 2.8 million people living below
   the poverty line. There are also concerns about rising inflation and
   environmental damage to rural areas as a result of the mining boom.
   The resource-rich country is a former Soviet client state that ended
   seven decades of communist rule in 1990. A strong U.S. ally, Mongolia
   held its first elections in 1992.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/mongolias-elbegdorj-wins-second-term-
   as-president/1690143.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/mongolias-elbegdorj-wins-second-term-as-president/1690143.html