Mongolia holds an election Friday. Its people see the government as benefiting the wealthy

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption.

The election in a relatively new democracy — the country was a single-party communist state until 1990 — comes at a time when many Mongolians have soured on the government, which they see as benefiting business interests and the wealthy.

“We have democracy only in appearance,” said Gantamur Dash, who earns money taking photos of tourists at the central square in Ulaanbaatar, the capital. “Only a few are living luxurious lives and the rest of the population is poor.”

Mongolia is a sparsely populated country of 3.4 million people in East Asia squeezed between China and Russia. The government has sought to maintain ties with its much larger neighbors while also building new ones with the United States and its democratic allies — a delicate task since the two sides are increasingly at odds.

The political system is serving the interests of a few instead of the general population, said Sumati Luvsandendev, the director of the Sant Maral polling organization, adding that the United States faces the same problem.

Still, he said, most people want to stick with democracy. “Communism doesn’t work for Mongolia,” he said. “It is a collective system and we are ... individualists.”

The ruling Mongolian People’s Party is favored to win the vote, though the overwhelming majority it holds in the current parliament could be reduced.

The parliament approved a constitutional change last year that added 50 seats and created two ways of electing members: 78 are chosen from 13 multimember constituencies and 48 are allocated to political parties depending on the percentage of the vote they get in the election.

The new system may give more political parties a chance to win seats in parliament, though they will have to reach a minimum percentage to do so.

Baljinnyam Nemekhjargal, a bank manager, favored having a strong ruling party in the previous election in 2020, but he said he no longer thinks so.

“I think the reforms were right,” he said. “We don’t need a supermajority. The opposition should be strong too.”

Sukhbaatar Enkhjargal, the head of a tech group that does election monitoring, isn't convinced the changes will help and worries that they will create new problems. They will give more power to the party leaders, as lawmakers chosen by the party vote will be loyal to their party, not to the voters from a particular constituency.

“At the beginning of the democratic period, we’ve been quite successful,” he said. “We’ve been, like, ‘Oasis of Democracy’ from central Asia, etcetera. But now we really going back.”

Discontent with the government has been fueled by corruption. Large protests broke out in 2022 demanding that officials be held accountable for the alleged theft of 385,000 tons of coal from stockpiles on the border with China, a major buyer of Mongolian coal.

“Mongolian democracy has proven to be resilient over the years but ... continued support ... in the form of democratic solidarity and increased economic engagement will remain vital to Mongolia’s ‘Oasis of Democracy,’” the International Republican Institute, an American group that promotes democracy worldwide, said this week in an online post on Friday’s election.

The two largest parties, the ruling Mongolian People’s Party and the Democratic Party, have included younger candidates in their mix in a bid to woo potential young voters and reshape their party images to counter public cynicism toward the government.

Younger voters make up a large part of the voting-age population, but historically they have not turned out in large numbers. If they do, that could benefit the HUN Party, which has emerged as a potential third force in Mongolian politics.

Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang contributed to this report.

A man covers up from the rain in an umbrella on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Thursday, June 27, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

FILE - Residents look at candidates posters two days before polls open in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Young Mongolians chat under umbrellas as it rains on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Thursday, June 27, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

FILE - Residents look at candidates posters two days before polls open in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

A man rests on a bench on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Thursday, June 27, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

FILE - A man carries a child near candidates' posters two days before polls open in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

A woman walks carrying an umbrella as it rains on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. A parliamentary election will be held in Mongolia on Friday, June 28, 2024 for the first time since the body was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been monopolized by two political parties and plagued by corruption. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday as forecasters warned it was expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday.

A major hurricane is considered a Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph). Hurricane watches were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while a tropical storm watch was issued for Martinique and Tobago.

Beryl's center is forecast to pass about 26 miles (45 kilometers) south of Barbados, said Sabu Best, director of the island's meteorological service's director.

On Saturday, Beryl was located about 820 miles (1,320 kilometers) east-southeast of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). It was moving west at 23 mph (37 kph).

“Rapid strengthening is now forecast,” the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

Warm waters are fueling Beryl, with ocean heat content in the deep Atlantic the highest on record for this time of year, according to Brian McNoldy, University of Miami tropical meteorology researcher.

Beryl is the strongest June tropical storm on record that far east in the tropical Atlantic, noted Philip Klotzbach, Colorado State University hurricane researcher.

“We need to be ready,” Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a public address late Friday. “You and I know when these things happen, it is better to plan for the worst and pray for the best.”

She noted that thousands of people are in Barbados for the Twenty20 World Cup cricket final, with India and South Africa playing in the capital, Bridgetown, on Saturday.

Some fans, like Shashank Musku, a 33-year-old physician who lives in Pittsburgh, were rushing to change their flights to leave before the storm.

Musku has never experienced a hurricane: “I don’t plan on being in one, either.”

He and his wife, who are rooting for India, found out about Beryl thanks to a taxi driver who mentioned the storm.

Beryl is the second named storm in what is predicted to be a busy hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore in northeast Mexico with heavy rains that resulted in four deaths.

“The development of a tropical storm this far east in the tropical Atlantic is uncommon, though not unprecedented,” Florida-based hurricane expert Michael Lowry wrote in a forecast. “Only five named storms on record have formed in the tropical Atlantic east of the Caribbean.”

Of those, only one hurricane of record has formed east of the Caribbean in June, he added.

Mark Spence, manager of a hostel in Barbados, said in a phone interview that he was calm about the approaching storm.

“It’s the season. You can get a storm any time,” he said. “I’m always prepared. I always have enough food in my house.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2024 hurricane season is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Beryl is expected to drop up to six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in Barbados and nearby islands, and a high surf warning of waves up to 13 feet (4 meters) was in effect. A storm surge of up to seven feet (2 meters) is also forecast.

The storm is approaching the southeast Caribbean just days after the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago reported major flooding in the capital, Port-of-Spain, as a result of an unrelated weather event.

Meanwhile, a no-name storm earlier this June dumped more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain on parts of South Florida, stranding numerous motorists on flooded streets and pushing water into some homes in low-lying areas.

This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 3:10am GMT shows tropical storm Beryl, lower center right, as it strengthens over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, June 29, 2024. The storm could strengthen into the year's first hurricane before it reaches the Caribbean Sea early next week. (NOAA via AP)