• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

What’s Next for Mongolia’s Troubled Oasis of Democracy?

David Sneath by David Sneath
02/13/19
in Opinion
People in traditional dress arrive to vote in the Mongolia's presidential election of 2017

People in traditional dress arrive to vote in the Mongolian presidential election of 2017. Photo: AFP

140
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

After months of political turbulence, the Speaker of Mongolia’s Parliament has been forced from office. His removal came after a campaign of protest against political corruption that saw demonstrators brave freezing winter temperatures in the central square of the capital Ulaanbaatar.

This marks the latest episode in the saga of political scandal that has dogged Mongolian democracy and raises questions about the future of the parliamentary system in this mineral-rich but economically struggling country. The public demonstrations reflect deep-seated popular anger at politicians who are widely seen as a self-serving elite, enriching themselves at the nation’s expense.

Happening now: Hundreds are gathered at Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia calling for the resignation of Parliament Speaker Miyeegombyn Enkhbold over corruption allegations

????: @TerrTogii pic.twitter.com/uZDKD3mruE

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) December 27, 2018

Sukhbaatar Square has seen many public protests since the “democratic revolution” of 1990 that led to the introduction of a multi-party parliamentary democracy. This time, however, the demonstrations were matched by a campaign within parliament to oust Speaker Miyeegombyn Enkhbold, who has been implicated in a series of corruption scandals but who consistently refused to stand down. To remove him, parliamentarians of his own party had to enact new legislation, and on January 29, a majority of MPs voted him from office. Three days later, they elected his replacement Gombojavyn Zandanshatar.

This ousting is the latest upheaval in a restive parliament that has seen Prime Minister Jargaltulgiin Erdenebat, and his cabinet voted out of office in September 2017 to make way for the incumbent Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.

Mongolia’s Democratic Revolution

Described approvingly in 2016 by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as an “oasis of democracy,” Mongolia was a Soviet satellite state until a peaceful democratic revolution in 1990. Since then, it has been lionized as a beacon of parliamentary democracy in a region dominated by authoritarian regimes, notably China and Russia.

But, following World Bank and U.S. government advice, the reforms that Mongolia embarked upon in 1990 led to economic shock therapy and placed the ownership of companies and resources into the hands of a relative few. The result was a new stratum of super-rich who relied upon political connections and business acumen to assemble immense fortunes.

Graphic charting economic and social indicators for Mongolia

The new market economy has been unable to deliver stable, well-paid employment for the majority of the population. Around 30 percent of the nation continues to live below the poverty line of about $2 a day. Mongolians have seen wealth sucked-up to the top rather than trickle down, and journalists have suggested that a tiny group of just 30 families control most of the wealth and political power. Many of the richest men in the country are politicians themselves. Current President Khaltmaagiin Battulga is rumored to be a dollar billionaire, as is Sukhbaataryn Batbold who was prime minister from 2009 to 2012.

Corruption Scandals

A seemingly endless series of corruption scandals have swirled around politicians of all stripes since the 1990s. From its outset, Mongolian parliamentary democracy was entangled with private wealth, and the major political parties came to rely heavily on business tycoons for funding.

One industrialist essentially cut out the political middlemen by founding and funding his own party. The Motherland Party, created by Badarchiin Erdenebat, owner of the huge Erel Group mining and construction conglomerate, won several parliamentary seats and propelled the tycoon into the post of Minister of Fuel and Power in 2006-7.

Since that time, however, Mongolian politics has become a largely bipartisan affair, with two main parties dominating the political landscape: the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), the rebranded and renamed ruling party from the days when Mongolia was a Soviet satellite, and the Democratic Party (DP), a set of opposition parties that merged in 2000.

After more than a decade of coalition governments and endless corruption scandals, the 2016 parliamentary elections handed the MPP a landslide victory. The party won 65 of the 76 seats. The DP had been particularly damaged by factionalism and in-fighting, and the MPP had campaigned on a ticket of competent government and a stand against corruption.

Public Outrage

But the latest series of exposés have implicated politicians of both the major parties and managed to provoke outrage in a public already jaded by countless scandals. One of these was a plan to allegedly raise millions of dollars for MPP party coffers by selling government offices for cash donations. Another was the revelation that the lion’s share of the millions of dollars given as low-interest loans by the government’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund had gone to the family and friends of politicians of both parties.

In the Mongolian public debate, the term MANAN (a combination the acronyms of the two parties which together make the Mongolian word fog) is now widely used to describe a political establishment that, although apparently divided into rival parties, in practice colludes to divvy up state wealth.

Having pushed out his predecessor on the grounds of corruption, Prime Minister Khurelsukh set about ousting those within his own party most mired in scandal. His toughest target was Speaker Enkhbold, widely said to be the head of the so-called “city mafia” faction, who had benefited from his own long stint as Mayor of Ulaanbaatar.

But so many of the established politicians are implicated in allegations of corruption that a new generation of parliamentarians within the ruling MPP have sensed the opportunity to replace them with fresher faces. So, the prime minister himself was the target of allegations of corruption and narrowly survived a parliamentary vote to remove him last November.

Given the widespread public frustration, the politics of recent years has revolved around presenting oneself as an outsider and denouncing opponents as corrupt members of the self-serving MANAN coterie. This tactic was used to some extent by both President Battulga and the Prime Minister Khurelsukh. Both project faintly Putinesque images as tough guys who can enforce better standards of public behavior: Khurelsukh as a former military man and Battulga as a wrestler turned business tycoon.

However, the public has become increasingly disenchanted with both parliament and party politics in general. There is a growing appetite for more structural political change, and this presents opportunities for advocates of more authoritarian styles of political leadership.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
Share140Tweet
David Sneath

David Sneath

Director of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge

Related Posts

A single falcon can fetch up to tens of thousands of dollars on the black market.
World

Poachers’ Paradise: Gulf Hunts Fuel Pakistan Falcon Trafficking

by Staff Writer
January 4, 2021
People wearing face masks vote at a polling station in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, on June 24, 2020
Opinion

Mongolia’s Dance with Democracy: Some Steps Back and Some Forward

by Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag and Fernando Casal Bértoa
July 1, 2020
Next Post
A Rohingya refugee girl in Bangladesh

Rohingya Urgently Need Relief, but is World Willing to Make an Effort?

German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station on 9 January, 2016

With the Rise of the Far-Right, Germany Sees Spike in Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes

Recommended

Damage from a series of powerful storms and at least one tornado is seen on March 25, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

After Tornado Kills 25, Mississippi Faces More Extreme Weather

March 26, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post