ULAN BATOR : A Nomadic Democracy

Mongolians will cast ballots Sunday in the first parliamentary elections to be scheduled under a new, more democratic constitution that was approved last January.

Western observers say that the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party--the former Communist Party that since early 1990 has presided over a transition to multi-party democracy--stands a good chance of being returned to power.

With many voters being nomadic herders living in the country’s vast grasslands, ballot-counting is expected to take a minimum of several days.

Candidates representing a large number of opposition parties, with widely varying proposals for solving the nation’s serious economic difficulties, have waged colorful and energetic campaigns.