It took Mongolian nomad Pagvajaviin Shatarbaatar seven days to get to his polling station to vote in Wednesday’s general election — accompanied by more than 2,000 sheep, goats and horses. His family spends the year travelling around the Gobi Desert in search of pasture for their animals, maintaining a way of life largely unchanged for centuries. As the vote approached they were hundreds of kilometers from their polling station in Mandalgovi, the capital of Dundgovi province. So began the slow process of herding their animals north for the summer, following one of Mongolia’s few paved roads. The journey is a difficult one, said Shatarbaatar’s wife Otgontsetseg, but they feel a responsibility to make their voices heard.
Mongolians have grown increasingly apathetic about the democratic experiment they began when they shook off Soviet influence 26 years ago.
Many claim there is little difference between the two major political parties, and no chance for third parties to make their voice heard. “We want politicians who are responsible for the people in the same way we are responsible for our animals,” said Otgontsetseg, leaning on a pillow in the small mobile home they use to follow their flock.
They intended to vote for a candidate from the Xun Party, a small group of reformers mainly composed of Mongolians educated at elite universities abroad.
Full Article: Long walk to the ballot box for Mongolian nomads | Daily Mail Online.