Category Archives: Politics

The Constitutional Court and Gridlock in Mongolian Democracy

Posted on April 13, 2021 by marissa smith

By Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag and Marissa J. Smith As covered by Mongolia Focus, the Mongolian government made significant changes to the Constitution in 2019. This was the second time that changes have been made since the Democratic Constitution was adopted in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag, Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stability of Presidential Election System

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In June, Mongolians will participate in a presidential election again. The electoral system has remained largely unchanged since the first free election in 1993. In late January 2021 a conference on “Democratic Challenges in Asia and Mongolia” … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Elections, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Outlook

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Parties will nominate candidates my May 2 before Mongolians will vote on a new president on June 9, 2021. Depending on the outcome of the election this will be the 5th or 6th president since the democratic … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, JD Democratization, Military, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Outrage Over PM’s Suggestion to Draft Young Women into Military

Posted on March 6, 2021 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith The #огцор hashtag is back (#cancelPM #огцор9 #ОгцорEC) after PM Oyun-Erdene made comments about drafting young women, who were characterized as getting married and having children at a young age rather than working, as he chaired … Continue reading →

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Posted in Gender, Mongolian People's Party, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolian Democracy Through the Lens of Animal Farm

Posted on February 28, 2021 by bulgan batdorj

By Bulgan Batdorj When I recently read the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, a book written as an allegorical critique of the Soviet Union in 1945, I could not help but compare the characters and story to Mongolia. The … Continue reading →

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Posted in Bulgan Batdorj, Corruption, Democracy, Development | Tagged | Leave a comment

Oyun-Erdene Cabinet

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Bulgan B, Marissa Smith and Julian Dierkes After U Khurelsukh’s sudden resignation, the MPP moved swiftly to nominate 2-time MP and serving Cabinet Secretary L Oyun-Erdene as Prime Minister. As speculated, (see: here, here, and here), the new Cabinet … Continue reading →

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Posted in Agriculture, Education, Energy, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolian Hunger Striking — DP to MPRP?

Posted on January 27, 2021 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith After the massive #уокогцор strikes last week that preceded the resignation of Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh and his Cabinet, the weekend also saw demonstrations with fewer participants begin on Sukhbaatar Square, focusing on the OT agreement. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democratic Party, History, Human Rights, Marissa Smith, Mining, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics, Social Media, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

PM Khurelsukh Resigns Suddenly

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Over 30 years of Mongolia’s democratic history we have seen a lot of surprising developments. By comparison, recent months seemed relatively calm. The Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) cruised to a first-ever consecutive election victory, seemingly on the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Health, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Podcast: 77Nation

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

On Dec 11 2020, I appeared on the 77Nation podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Mongolian politics with L Bolor, E Enkhtamir, and B Geser.

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, International Relations, Podcast, Politics | Leave a comment

Democratic Convulsions

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Two ongoing convulsions of democracy are having me reflect on Mongolia, elections, and political system challenges: the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan According to Katie Putz, one of the choices that is coming out of the revolutionary upheavals … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Elections, JD Democratization, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and ..., Politics, United States | Leave a comment

2020 Local Elections

Posted on October 20, 2020 by mendee

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan and Julian Dierkes  The local elections usually do not get much attention from international journalists, Mongolia-watchers, and even in-country diplomats. However, local elections at the capital city/aimag and district/soum level have several important implications for the country’s … Continue reading →

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Posted in Aimags, Democratic Party, Elections, Governance, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Politics, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Geopolitics of Mongolia Podcast

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes recently spoke to Michael Hilliard about Mongolia’s foreign relations in an extended show of  The Red Line Podcast focused on geopolitics.

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Posted in China, Inner Mongolia, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Mongolians in China, Podcast, Russia | Leave a comment

Friends in Defence of Democracy?

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Throughout the past 30 years of democratic foreign policy, Mongolia has been a multi-lateral joiner, i.e. eager to participate in international initiatives that raise its profile, in particular aimed at deepening relationships with “Third Neighbours”. Now, there … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., UN | Leave a comment

Current and Previous Mongolian Presidents Weigh In on Mongolian Language Education

Posted on September 2, 2020 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith Since Julian’s post on the unfolding events around China’s cancellation of Mongolian-medium education, the current Mongolian president, Kh. Battulga, and his predecessor, Ts. Elbegdorj, have released statements. As a brief update on the situation, Southern Mongolian … Continue reading →

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Posted in Author, China, Cultural Diplomacy, Digital Diplomacy, Education, Foreign Policy, Inner Mongolia, Literature, Marissa Smith, Mongolia and ..., Mongolians in China, Nationalism, Politics, Primary and Secondary Education, Social Media, Social Movements, Video | Leave a comment

Covering Election: Looking Back

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes As we wrote in May, this was the first election since the existence of Mongolia Focus that none of our regular writers were in-country. Our “coverage” of the election was thus a bit different. Why Cover the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Ikh Khural 2020, Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment