A year and a half ago I wrote in one of my columns that corruption had become a cancer in our society and elaborated on how China was fighting corruption as an example. Since then corruption has found its way to every cell of our government at a very rapid pace, which can be seen from the 2016 elections and the cabinet that was set up afterwards. The most senior posts were traded to those who donated the most money to the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP). The 60 billion tugrugs from the infamous recording must have been collected.     

An investigation mandated by the parliament established that the president of the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) embezzled 500 million USD using the names of his five people and an artificial contract when they conspired to take over 49 percent of Erdenet. However, all the talk disappeared soon after. It is obvious that the politicians and media who were talking about the case did not go silent voluntarily.  

It was reported by MPP members that their political party spent a total of 370 billion MNT in the presidential elections. The Democratic Party (DP) did not spend less than this sum when they won. Only politicians know where this huge amount of money came from and how it will be repaid. The political party that has the most money is winning elections in democratic Mongolia today.

Curing the cancer

Niccolò Machiavelli, who was an educator during the Renaissance era, determined that corruption was first formulated in Roman laws. He likened corruption to a disease that is hard to diagnose in the beginning but easy to recognize in its late stages. However, when finally diagnosed it would almost be impossible to cure.  

Corruption affects conscience and leads to personal destruction. Psychologists say that corruption is like gambling. It is also likened to doping that increases adrenaline levels, which means it forces people to commit corruption repeatedly in order to get the satisfaction again. This materializes in people's thinking ‘I did not get caught after receiving bribes, so I can do it again.’ Then, those who are on the receiving end, learn to change their appearance and behaviors easily. Not everyone plans to receive bribes when they become a public servant. On the contrary, many young people are initially motivated to work in fair, ethical manner when serving the government. However, they are forced to give in to corruption because the system itself is corrupt.  

In our country, the corrupt are first prepared in their political party. When the political parties – the only institutions who can obtain ruling power through elections – are corrupt, the government eventually becomes the same. Our laws are not abided by in reality, and there is no desire for it. When the maximum amount of donations to a political party from an individual or a legal entity was set at 1-10 million MNT almost ten years ago, it did not reflect reality.

It leads to situations where the leader of a political party does not know whether to report or not, after receiving 100 million MNT from some company. He only tells it to a few people he is close to, and soon adopts the habit of not telling anyone. Soon after, he suddenly realizes that he has become a type of mafia boss who controls immense wealth.  

The leader of a political party, who controls the money, decides who is going to run in what constituency, how the campaign will be held, and how the victory will be achieved. It removes democracy inside the political party, while factions appear depending on who put in how much money. Then the factions start trying to overthrow each other’s government. When a political party is based on money rather than principles, it carries out its own destruction from within. MPP and DP have been on this path for a long time, and now they have arrived at a place where they have to choose either destruction or revival. The MPP is right in the middle of an internal struggle that will decide its fate.

Mongolia will never get rid of this cancer without making political party financing transparent, and ensuring civic oversight on government activities.

Preventing the cancer

Corruption is like radiation, and therefore it is more dangerous than an atomic bomb. It seeps into the body without being seen and causes cancer gradually. Without regular checkups, it is difficult to diagnose the disease, and cancer is only discovered in its latter stages. Until then people do not normally know that they have it. Cancer cells destroy the healthy cells in a human body, leading to the loss of ability to fight infections and diseases. If cancer is a disease, there must be a cure.

Specific actions prevent specific diseases. If we want to avoid corruption, we must instill in people the behavior of complying with the law. Every person needs to fully understand that they have to follow the law in all circumstances, whether they like it or not.

Our society is preparing children for corruption starting from a young age. Children are now giving gifts to their teachers when they graduate or when they want to get good grades. A heartfelt thank you would be enough if you want to express gratitude. However, today we are thinking of benefits being returned before saying thank you to someone. It is because corruption is already deep-seated in our mindset. This is our time to establish the basis of social relations where people understand the harm of corruption and despise it in any form. If you think of it as a disease, we need to build our immunity against corruption. Preventing a disease comes at a lesser cost than curing one.        

Corruption is a social phenomenon that exists in our conscience. Therefore, it can be changed by individual upbringing and values. An important priority today is to improve the legal education of our people and turning the educated, resourceful part of our society into a strong base to fight corruption.

Besides fighting the corrupt, we must also remove the basis of committing corruption. If you want to get rid of cockroaches in the house, you must make sure that you remove the food waste that is feeding them.

If we fight corruption, only one or two political parties will cease to exist. If we do not fight corruption, it will mean the end of Mongolia. Which one do you choose?

2017.08.30

Translated by B.Amar