Category Archives: Politics

Friends in Defence of Democracy?

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

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

Current and Previous Mongolian Presidents Weigh In on Mongolian Language Education

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

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

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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Ministers in Khurelsukh’s Cabinet

By Julian Dierkes, Marissa Smith and Bulgan Batdorj Byambajav has already provided a brief introduction to the 16 ministers who have been appointed to PM Khurelsukhs post-2020-election cabinet. Since a number of them are not MPs and have not been … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Foreign Policy, Governance, Health, Ikh Khural 2020, Infrastructure, Law, Military, Mining, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Society and Culture, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cabinet Observations

By Julian Dierkes [I had begun writing this post on July 3, i.e. just before PM Khurelsukh’s cabinet was announced. While the speculation about appointments has been overtaken by that announcement, perhaps some of the thinking behind cabinet appointments will … Continue reading

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A Renewed Khurelsukh Cabinet

By Byambajav Dalaibuyan Under the recent constitutional amendments, the Prime Minister has the power to appoint and dismiss cabinet ministers. Previously, the parliament had lengthy sessions to discuss candidates proposed by the Prime Minister one by one and voted on … Continue reading

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Guest Post: A Flawed Electoral System?

By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein Already a day after the elections some independent candidates began to call for a recounting of the ballots. In the following days, smaller parties and parts of the DP joined these demands. But irrespective … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, Johann Fuhrmann, Max Duckstein, Party Politics, Politics | Leave a comment

Guest Post: The 2020 Election and the Online News

By Judith Nordby Did online news sites reflect voters’ concerns and their opinions of the candidates in the recent election? This I asked myself while consulting Mongolian language sites – written by Mongolians for Mongolians. Ikon.mn, news.mn, sonin.mn and dnn.mn … Continue reading

Posted in Ikh Khural 2020, Judith Nordby, Law, Media and Press, Social Media | Leave a comment

Election Analyses Panel, June 29

Mongolians voted on June 24. The Mongolian People’s Party won a resounding victory with 62 of 76 seats. We’ll analyze these results, discuss incoming MPs, focus a bit on gender and leave lots of time for questions and comments. Monday, … Continue reading

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Voting with Enthusiasm

By Julian Dierkes There was a lot of enthusiasm on display early on June 24 as the polls opened. Expressions of enthusiasm built in part on the very active өглөө campaign that had been part of a bring-out-the-youth-vote effort.   … Continue reading

Posted in Curios, Ikh Khural 2020, Pop Culture, Social Media, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vote Spreads

By Julian Dierkes One of the big questions about the multi-member plurality voting system adopted for the parliamentary election was what the minimum number of votes would be to win a seat, especially since minimum thresholds had been abandoned this … Continue reading

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Women MPs

By Bulgan Batdorj Mongolia’s 8th parliamentary election held on June 24, 2020. Despite the concerns over coronavirus pandemic, the voter turnout reached 68 percent. The election result shows 13 women out of 76 seats  – the exact same number of … Continue reading

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Zoom: Mongolia Campaign Update II

On June 22, we held another panel presentation/discussion about the 2020 parliamentary election campaign. The campaign will end shortly to take a daylong break before election day on June 24. We provide a general update on the campaign, but will … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Gender, Ikh Khural 2020, Party Politics, Social Media | Leave a comment

Comparing 2008 and 2020 Elections

By Byambajav Dalaibuyan The 2008 parliamentary election had some features resembling the current election. Election systems A multi-member majoritarian or block voting system was used in 2008. Compared to single-member, majoritarian systems, this system requires candidates to run campaigns in … Continue reading

Posted in Byambajav Dalaibuyan, Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, Party Politics, Politics, Public Opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: The Effects of Vote-Buying in Mongolia

By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein As we get closer to election day, the topic of vote-buying is increasingly coming up in daily conversations in Mongolia. Despite anecdotal evidence of vote-buying being widespread, statistically informed knowledge about the extent of … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2016, Ikh Khural 2020, Johann Fuhrmann, Law, Max Duckstein, Morals, Party Politics, Politics | Leave a comment