Political Crisis in Mongolia Update

Sunday, 15 January 2006 00:13 Last Updated on Sunday, 15 January 2006 01:06

The political crisis in Mongolia continues, with the Parliament of Mongolia holding an all-day plenary session on Friday, January 13 to discuss the recent mass resignation of ministers from the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
Ten MPRP Ministers resigned on Wednesday, alleging that the existing government had demonstrated incompetence in reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth.
The MPRP had formed a grand coalition government with their Democratic-Motherland Coalition rivals following protracted negotiations in 2004.

The Prime Minister of Mongolia, Ts. Elbegdorj (Democratic Party), expressed harsh criticism of the mass resignation, yet asserted that Mongolia had fully embraced democracy in the past 16 years, stating that he was confident the political crisis could be resolved by peaceful means. In a meeting with reporters he declared that there was no risk of the situation escalating into unrest similar to that experienced during last year’s "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine.

According to article 43.2 of the Constitution of Mongolia, the Government must step down in its entirety upon the resignation of the Prime Minister or if half of the members of the Government resign at the same time. The decision to dissolve the Government must be made by the Parliament within 15 days of receiving notice of such a resignation.

The President of Mongolia, N. Enkhbayar, told Parliament that "it is clear that Mongolia must not allow a single day to pass without a legally-constituted Government", and urged the Parliament to seek an urgent resolution to this crisis.
It remains unclear whether the recent withdrawal of the MPRP from the Government will lead to fresh elections.

Meanwhile demonstrations by MPRP supporters continued on Friday in Sukhbaatar Square outside the parliament building, following upon a protest rally the day before in which the MPRP building had been briefly occupied by demonstrators.
Mongolia’s television media have offered biased coverage of the crisis, with approximately 80% of those polled by Eagle-TV expressing criticism of the resignation, and 100% of those polled by TV5 and TV9 demonstrating their support of the MPRP ministers’ decision.

The cabinet ministers who have tendered their resignations are: