Democratic but deadlocked, Mongolia braces for 'inevitable' political change

Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa attends an interview with Reuters at the State Great Khural (Parliament) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia May 31, 2019. REUTERS/B. Rentsendorj

ERDENE, Mongolia (Reuters) - An hour's drive from Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar, a lavish monument to national hero Genghis Khan could provide a salutary lesson to the man who built it a decade ago: champion wrestler, businessman and current president, Battulga Khaltmaa.

Beneath a giant stainless steel statue, portraits of the 13th century warlord's successors line the corridors of a museum. Nearly all of them saw their lives cut short during vicious fights for supremacy in medieval Mongolia's royal courts.