Mongolia: from 1989-present

• 1990 Peaceful Democratic Revolution in Mongolia– 3-month demonstration– Bloodless transition from communism to socialism

• Dec. 10, 1989– International Human Rights Day– Activists rallied for a peaceful pro-democracy

demonstration– Cultural Center for Youth– Ended the 70-year single party rule in Mongolia

with the creation of opposition parties led by the Democratic Union

Democratic Party

• Founded on December 10, 1989

• Democratic Union: union of 5 political parties including Mongolian National Democratic Party and Mongolian Social Democratic Party

• Goal: continued transformation of Mongolia into an open and democratic society.

• January 14, 1990– From 200 to 1,000+ activists met at the lenin

Museum

• January 21, 1990– Large-scale pro-democracy demonstration on sub-

zero weather

• Followed by weekend demonstrations in January and March

Demands:

1. Resignation of the political bureau of the MPRP

2. Formation of a Provisional People’s Hural within March

3. Separation of MPRP from the government

• March 7-9, 1990– Hunger strikes due to

denial of those demands– Sukhbaatar square

• March 9, 1990– Communist MPRP

government resigned• July 29, 1990

– 1st democratic election– Oppositions failed to win a

majority – MPRP on 357/430 seats in

the Great Khural and 31/53 seats in the small Khural

• February 12, 1992– A new constitution became

effective

When an outbreak of violence seemed likely, Zorig took a microphone, sat atop a friend’s shoulders to make himself visible in the crowd and called for calm.

Sanjaasuren Zorig

Contents:• The 1992 Constitution of Mongolia establishes

the country as a sovereign, independent republic (Chapter I)

• ...with legal guarantees for the protection of human rights and freedom (Chapter II),

• the organs and the structures of the state (Chapter III)

• the administrative and territorial units (Chapter IV)

• the mandate and function of the Constitutional Court (Chapter V)

• and procedures for amending the constitution.

Consequences:

• Tremendous unemployment– Due to privatization

• Massive devaluation– From 10 tugrik- 1$ to 800 tugrik-1$

• poverty

• June 6, 1993– 1st direct presidential election– P. Ochirbat won the 1st popular presidential

election, a candidate of the democratic opposition

• June 30, 1996– 1st time that opposition wins the majority

• 1998– Year of political crisis on Mongolia

• April 23, 1998– T. Elbegdorj was elected as prime minister in

Mongolia (1st term)

Tsakhiagiin ElbegdorjDemocratic Party

"Cherish our history, embrace our freedom, develop our country"

Prime Minister President

Took Office August 20, 2004 June 18, 2009

Left Office January 13, 2004 Incumbent

Achievements:

1. Co-initiated the Law on Press Freedom

2. Collect tax and create income tax

- Copper ore mining and Erdenet Mining Corp.; biggest contributor

Issues:

• Swindle of the Century• Reconstruction Bank– Biggest financial

burden the economy

• December 8, 1998– Elbegdorj resigned

• S. Zorig, Infrastructure Minister, was the candidate for prime minister

• October 5, 1998– Scheduled announcement of Zorig as Prime

Minister

• October 2, 1998– Zorig was murdered– Stabbed 16 times, 3 of which were directed to the

heart– Stole a bottle of vinegar and soy sauce– Buried on October 7, 1998

• Civic Will Party (Irgenii Zorig Nam)– Founded by his sister Oyuun– A Mongolian non-profit organization promoting

democracy through social actions, youth activities and good governance programs

• 2000 elections– MPRP regained its power– N. Enkhbayar was elected as prime minister– MPRP got 72/76 seats in the Parliament

Achievements:

• Millennium Road– 1st to traverse Mongolia’s 600,000 square mile

territory from east to west

• Settled the controversial debt of Mongolia to the Soviet Union

• 2004 elections– MPRP lost almost half of its seat to the

Democratic Coalition resulting to an evenly split result in parliamentary elections between 2 major political forces: MDC and MPRP

• August 20, 2004– Elbegdorj was elected as prime minister (2nd term)

Achievements:1. Fight against corruption and poverty2. Greenwall Environment project3. National State Television Program4. Abolition of legal provisions that prohibited

demonstrations on Ulan Baatar’s Sukhbaatar Square5. Technical schools and specialized professions were

supported and subsidized to reduce unemployment6. Establishment of Information and Communication

Agency to promote affordable computers and internet access

7. Mongolia was accepted into the European Union’s GSP+ system

8. English replaced Russian as the foreign language to be taught in public schools

• August 2005– Elbegdorj wanted to run for presidency but was

threatened by MPRP that if he ran against Enkhbold, the MPRP candidate, they will leave the coalition

• January 13, 2006– MPRP left the coalition anyway forcing Elbegdorj

to resign– MPRP formed a new government with DP

defectors and appointed Enkhbold as prime minister

Nambaryn Enkhbayar(MPRP)

Prime Minister President

Took Office July 26, 2000 June 24, 2005

Left Office August 20, 2004 June 18, 2009

• June 29, 2008– Landslide victory of MPRP in the parliamentary

elections

• July 1, 2008– Protesters burned the MPRP headquarters in

downtown Ulan Baatar– Clash between civilians and security officers

resulted to 5 deaths, 13 missing and 800 being arrested

Different Views:

• International observers– Elections appeared to be mostly free and fair

• MPRP– Accused by Elbegdorj of inciting the riot of July 1st

2008• Elbegdorj– Accused MPRP with the deaths of 5 people– Alleged that MPRP’s inactions had encouraged the

rioters and that it was using dictatorial methods

• 4-day state emergency

2009 Presidential Elections

• Elbegdorj won the election and was decided to swear in on June 18, 2009– 1st DP president– Supported by DP, Civic

Will Party and Green Party

• Achievements:– Initiation of Amnesty

Law– Disbanded the

Community Council of the IAAC (Independent Authority Against Corruption) formed by Enkhbayar

– Abolition of death penalty