Monthly Archives: June 2013

Vote Shares by Regions

Among the data that the General Election Commission has made available quickly is the breakdown by Aimag and Ulaanbaatar ridings. It’s quite clear from a glance that Elbegdorj has won this election on the strength of his showing in the … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | 1 Comment

Digesting the Results of the Presidential Election

I will be updating, changing, adding to and deleting from this post continuously this morning (June 27 in Ulaanbaatar) as I sort my thoughts and understanding of the result of the presidential election. At 8:30h it seems like the GEC … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Investigating the Rural Vote

Over the past weekend, I was very fortunate to have the chance to travel to Khentii Aimag and to speak to a number of locals. I was particularly interested in how the campaign messages of the three candidates played in … Continue reading

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Presidential Q&A

The general view in Ulaanbaatar was that Bat-Erdene was trailing Elbegdorj significantly in voter support in some part because of his lack of political experience, and profile and the fact that he doesn’t “look presidential”. This latter judgement is not … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Education, Elections, Foreign Policy, Judiciary, Mining, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Presidential 2013, Security Apparatus, Social Issues | Tagged | 2 Comments

Bits and Pieces about the Campaign and Upcoming Vote

Three days remain in the presidential campaign, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In central Ulaanbaatar, there still is very little of a sense of excitement or at least public drama around the campaign. Certainly, residents of the downtown core are a … Continue reading

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Foreign Policy Roundup #3: June 9-22, 2013

Below you will find the 3rd posting of our bi-weekly series, entitled “Foreign Policy Roundup”. In each roundup, I provide a 1-2 sentence summary of Mongolian foreign policy news, most of which come from Mongolian-language news sites. If you have … Continue reading

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Some Perspectives on Election Campaign from Parties and Observers

In meetings with party officials from the DP and MPP, I heard – not surprisingly – very different perspectives on the election. On the one hand, voters were described as interested in specifics of platform proposals, on the other hand … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | Leave a comment

1st Interim Report

[The title of the post is a bit of a pun, of course, as the OSCE election observation mission to Mongolia has been producing very substantial documents updating on their monitoring and these are entitled “Interim Report”] Quiet Ulaanbaatar I … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2013, Public Opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

Back in Ulaanbaatar Town

Für Mongolei Nostalgiker… 懐かしいねえ After too long an absence, I’m back in Ulaanbaatar. Returning 1-3 times per year over the last eight years has given me time lapse glimpses of rapid developments in Ulaanbaatar. At ULN, I was delighted to … Continue reading

Posted in Curios, Society and Culture, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 1 Comment

Polling in UB One Week Before Election

Sant Maral has released a poll ahead of the presidential election that gives a glimpse of some of the tendencies in public opinion. As of June 19, no more polling is allowed, so one week ahead of the election, this … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2013, Public Opinion, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Elbegdorj Platform

[This post was researched and co-written by Brian White at The Mongolist blog.] Previous posts have offered an overview over the three candidates’ platforms, as well as of their foreign policy goals. Ten days before the election, President Ts Elbegdorj … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, Foreign Policy, Governance, International Relations, Policy, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tweet-Up in Ulaanbaatar

I am inviting my Mongolian Twitter followers (and others interested) to meet in person on Friday, June 21st at 16:30h, at the American Center for Mongolian Studies in Ulaanbaatar (Rm 306, Center 34 Building, near Zanabazar Museum, location). Topics I will … Continue reading

Posted in American Center for Mongolian Studies, Canada, International Relations, Politics, Presidential 2013, Research on Mongolia, Social Media, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 1 Comment

Odd Numbers of Arrows: The Abe-Udval Connection

When I looked at Udval’s campaign website for the first time, the photo of her holding a bundle of arrows jumped out at me immediately. Yes, she’s wearing a beautiful light-blue deel, but it’s the arrows that caught my attention. … Continue reading

Posted in Japan, Literature, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | Leave a comment

2013 Presidential Candidates: Foreign Policy Proposals

With the election right around the corner, we thought it would be helpful to offer a brief comparison of the foreign policy proposals from the three candidates. Since setting foreign policy measures is one of the primary roles of the … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Foreign Investment, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Nationalism, Politics, Presidential 2013 | Tagged | 5 Comments

Bat-Erdene Election Platform

[This post was researched and co-written by Brian White at The Mongolist blog.] Bat-Erdene’s platform begins similarly to Udval’s by describing challenges facing the country. He does not go as far as Udval in labeling them as “dangers,” but the … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Environment, Inequality, Judiciary, Mining, Mongolian People's Party, Oyu Tolgoi, Party Politics, Policy, Presidential 2013, Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment