Herd About Mongolia?

Marxism is dead. Communists are history. Right? Not in Mongolia, as it turns out. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, which ruled the country for decades in lockstep with Moscow, won 70 of the 76 seats in the parliament, the Great People's Hural. Though 43% of the votes went to noncommunist candidates, a coalition of the three main opposition parties managed to take only four seats, since each contest was decided by simple majority.

Democratic reforms in Mongolia were actually begun two years ago. As aid and supervision from Moscow faded away, so did central economic planning, which gave way to private markets. Mongolian citizens, mainly nomadic herdsmen, tended to blame the democrats for the economic disruptions that followed: rising prices and unemployment, shortages, even of basics, and food rationing.

The communists are taking their triumph soberly, for now they must deal with the economic mess. "There is no reason to be happy," said a senior party official in Ulan Bator. "This result gives us a lot of responsibility." Though the communists have also pledged to continue with reforms, they may read the election results as an instruction from the voters to make changes slowly.