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Mongolia thrown into turmoil after PM is forced out
Taipei times ^ | Sunday, Jan 15, 2006, | AFP

Posted on 01/15/2006 2:57:58 PM PST by Lessismore

Mongolia's former communists met yesterday to discuss who should become the next prime minister after the central Asian country was thrown into disarray with the ouster of reform-minded Tsakhia Elbegdorj.

About 250 members of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gathered in central Ulan Bator to choose a candidate to lead the impoverished, landlocked nation, a party official said.

"They will discuss whom to nominate as the next prime minister," the official said, a leading member of the party's youth organization. He said the talks began shortly before 4pm.

The most likely choice was MPRP chairman Miyegombo Enkhbold, a former mayor of the capital, where nearly half the country's 2.5 million people live, several observers said.

"He's a good man. He's got good organizational skills and very important experience," said MPRP member Kulalsuk as he arrived for the meeting at party headquarters.

Mongolia's political system was thrown into upheaval after lengthy parliamentary debates late on Friday culminated in a vote approving the resignation of 10 Cabinet members, all from the MPRP.

With just eight cabinet members remaining, this effectively sealed the ouster of Elbegdorj, whose Democratic Party advocates liberal market reform in Mongolia.

The political constellation was such that a new government was all but certain to be formed by the MPRP with the support of smaller parties.

"This is the right time to start in our own direction," said Sansar Jiimen, a 30-year-old software engineer and a member of the MPRP's youth organization.

"We will pay more attention to social issues and look after poor people," he said.

The decision to topple the government "has immediately created a dangerous situation in our country," Elbegdorj said early yesterday, just moments after the parliamentary vote had reduced him to acting prime minister.

"I think this is short-sighted, and a wrong move by the Mongolian Communists," said Elbegdorj, a Harvard graduate.

The MPRP and the Democrats have co-ruled since 2004, when they were forced into an uneasy coalition after an election that divided the parliamentary seats almost evenly between the two.

In an agreement between the sides, Elbegdorj was handed the prime minister's office in exchange for giving the MPRP 10 of the 18 cabinet seats.

Elbegdorj was only to have held the premiership until this autumn, at which time it would have been taken over by the MPRP, according to observers.

"Everyone asks the question why they couldn't wait for these few months," Elbegdorj said. "My theory is that they felt threatened by my plans to pursue action for combating corruption."

Sanjaasuren Oyun, the leader of the Civil Will Party, said it was a wrong move to oust the government.

"Although the coalition couldn't do the reforms very fast, they had an ambitious reform-minded platform," she said.

"Slowly, they were moving forward with tax reform, with election reform," she added.

Mongolia, most famous for its past under fearless warlord Genghis Khan, has been praised as one of the few central Asian states to have enjoyed a relatively stable democracy following the fall of the Soviet Union.

It has also been an ally of the US, and sent a small but symbolically significant military deployment to help the US-led forces in Iraq.

The MPRP enjoyed nearly 70 years of single-party rule when Mongolia was a Soviet satellite, and has maintained significant clout since democracy was introduced in the early 1990s.

It won 72 of the 76 parliamentary seats in 2000 but was forced into the latest coalition after an electoral backlash to its dominance at the 2004 polls.

With support for Elbegdorj's Democratic Party falling to just 26 seats following the break up of its own "Democratic Coalition" last year, the MPRP decided to take full control.

"The democrats believe the 2004 vote was rigged and think they should have won the election," said a foreign observer in Ulan Bator. "So now they think they've lost twice, and they're angry."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 2006; asia; communists; elbegdorj; enkhbold; mongolia; mprp

1 posted on 01/15/2006 2:58:00 PM PST by Lessismore
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To: Lessismore

Thank you for posting. Mongolia is seldom in the 'news' and I wish their prime minister well. I remember Presdient Bush visited a few months ago to thank the Mongolians for their support in Iraq. A most impressive people.

I had no idea the prime minister graduated from Harvard. I hope they will find a workable solution.


2 posted on 01/15/2006 4:00:19 PM PST by SueRae
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To: Lessismore

How's Rumsfeld's horse ?
I hope he is OK....


3 posted on 01/15/2006 4:02:31 PM PST by traumer
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To: traumer
Mongolian Defense Minister Tserenkhuu Sharavdorj presents Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a brown horse during the secretary's Oct. 22 visit to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital city.
4 posted on 01/15/2006 4:05:58 PM PST by traumer
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To: Lessismore
OK one more..... :o)
5 posted on 01/15/2006 4:09:47 PM PST by traumer
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To: Lessismore

Them Mongolian names can be read forward and backward. I wish them electing government untied from old Soviet "brotherhood".


6 posted on 01/15/2006 4:54:32 PM PST by Leo Carpathian (FReeeePeee!)
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To: traumer

Wow - great pictures. Considering how the Mongolians revere their horses, this is no small gift. Has anyone ridden the horse yet?


7 posted on 01/18/2006 5:36:38 AM PST by SueRae
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To: SueRae

I was in a discount store - K-Mart? Target? - the other day and I happened to notice that a particular item of clothing was made in Mongolia. Obviously, the PM had been successful in getting a piece of the offshore manufacturing action, which could only be good for his country.

I also read an article in some other source (possibly the WSJ) about the thriving Internet cafes in Mongolia...I hope this reversion to Communism doesn't stop Mongolia dead in its tracks.


8 posted on 01/18/2006 5:45:21 AM PST by livius
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To: livius
I also read an article in some other source (possibly the WSJ) about the thriving Internet cafes in Mongolia...I hope this reversion to Communism doesn't stop Mongolia dead in its tracks.

Update:

N. Korea: Mongolian leader to N. Korea: 'No tyranny lasts forever' Yonhap News ^ | November 15, 2013

Posted on ‎11‎/‎16‎/‎2013‎ ‎7‎:‎43‎:‎33‎ ‎AM by TigerLikesRooster

Mongolian leader to N. Korea: 'No tyranny lasts forever'

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, at the end of his rare visit to North Korea late last month, encouraged the North to let its people "live free" and emulate Mongolia's model of transformation, saying, "No tyranny lasts forever," according to a transcript of Elbegdorj's speech on Friday.

Elbegdorj gave the speech at the Kim Il Sung University on Oct. 31 or before wrapping up his four-day visit to North Korea, the Mongolian leader's office said in the transcript. It marked the first visit by a head of state to North Korea since the North's leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

"No tyranny lasts forever. It is the desire of the people to live free that is the eternal power," Elbegdorj said, according to the English-language transcript.

"I believe in the power of freedom. Freedom is an asset bestowed upon every single man and woman. Freedom enables every human to discover and realize his or her opportunities and chances for development," he said. "Free people look for solutions in themselves."

(Excerpt) Read more at globalpost.com ...

9 posted on 03/07/2015 10:34:06 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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