Top topics and recent events

Photo by Amb. L.Khangai at
http://khangai.niitlelch.mn/content/8657.shtml

Mongolia's Prime Minister Voted Out

7 September 2017

Parliament has voted on 7 September 2017 by 42 votes out of total 76 to have Prime Minister (PM) J.Erdenebat and his entire cabinet resigned. Mongolian People's Party (MPP) has 65 seats in the Parliament and 33 of its parliamentary group voted together with 9 DP MPs and independents to oust the cabinet. The motion to oust the cabinet was submitted by 30 MPP MPs. This is the first time since the democratic changes of 1990 that MPP votes out its own cabinet as stability and steady governance are the trademarks of MPP. However, after the July 2017 Presidential elections things came to a boiling point.

Hightened Tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia

12 September 2017

"Among many other negative repercussions to the regional and global security, specifically for Mongolia a conflict on the Korean Peninsula will significantly affect its economic growth and endanger the safety of tens of thousands of Mongolians living in South Korea...
For the next few years..., most likely, the region will have to live with heightened tensions... So, more of the same probably will continue only in much harsher and tense variation. The brinkmanship is dangerous and hugely fraught with the risk of military conflict... If anything the parties, for now, need to think about mechanisms to avoid unintended clashes that could trigger bigger conflicts."

Dashdorj Zorigt,

"Mongolia and security on the Korean Peninsula", (12 September 2017),
Geopolitical Intelligence Services, https://www.gisreportsonline.com/

MDSI participates in Invest Mongolia

5 September 2017

Hon. Amb. Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Board member for MDSI, Member of Parliament, Chaired the Ambassadors' panel during Invest Mongolia 2017 conference.

"IMF program for Mongolia is born out of necessity. It is not IMF who wants to give money to Mongolia, it is Mongolia which needs this money. Those who blame the program do not understand that Mongolia needs this to pay back its existing debt... The problem in Mongolia is its outsized government bureaucracy and the burden it brings on tax payers. With no foreign investment, only domestic taxpayers will have to carry this burden."
Damdin Tsogtbaatar, 5 September 2017

Dr. Dashdorj Zorigt, Executive Director of MDSI, chaired the Chambers panel and participated in the PPP panel.

"For the last 10 years, the only successful PPP project in Mongolia was the Salkhit Wind Farm. This was only due to the fact that Renewable Energy Law clearly established the process and tariffs. Otherwise, no investor has invested in roads, coal power plants, or municipal facilities. The government needs to change the law and stabilize the policy if it wants to do PPP projects. Law needs to clearly state that if private sector wants to do the PPP project with clearly defined and reasonable profit margins, government should not do this project with its soft loans or budget funding. BOT should clearly have priority over BT projects. PPP projects need to be clearly approved by the Parliament and be stable, without mutually cannibalizing projects."
Dashdorj Zorigt, 5 September 2017

Mongolia's 2017 Presidential Elections

10 July 2017

Representative of the Democratic Party Khaltmaa Battulga received 50.61 percent of votes and was inaugurated as President of Mongolia on 10 June 2017. According to the General Election Commission, 60.67 percent of voters participated in the election, which was lower than the previous elections. Khaltmaa Battulga received 7332 votes over required threshold of 50 percent of voters. For the first time in the history of elections in Mongolia over 8 percent of voters chose to vote “blank”, which means they preferred none of the two candidates. For the first time in history of presidential elections a second round was required to choose a winner because none of the three candidates received a required 50 percent of votes. For the first time in the history of presidential elections a third party (or rather the splinter party from the MPP) candidate, Sainkhuu Ganbaatar, received over 30 percent of votes in the first round, which still put him in third position.