The Daily News is publishing former president Ts.Elbegdorj’s diary from the past as a series. In one of their recent editions (11 April), the newspaper published his notes from nearly 30 years ago. The notes spoke to the first ever meeting between Mongolia’s new political forces, which was organized by the Mongolian Student Union. At the time, I co-facilitated the meeting and also took my own notes, which are being shared here for the first time.
Saturday, 24 February 1990
8:30am. A statement from the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth Union (MRYU)’s Presidium Committee
- I spoke about changes in the International Union of Students (IUS) and the Mongolian Student Union (MSU), and responded a lot of questions that came from the room.
- As a member of the MRYU’s Presidium Committee, I proposed that an extraordinary session of the MRYU’s general assembly needs to be urgently convened.
10:30am. I gave an interview to L.Gantuya, a journalist from Mongolian Press, about the current affairs within the IUS and the MSU.
2:30pm. I met with G.Ganbold, Secretary of the Presidium Committee, and talked about the current reality of the MSU. He had stepped down from his position as the MRYU’s Chairperson only three days ago at a Presidium Committee Meeting.
4-9pm. The following people convened in the Building 3 of the National University of Mongolia (formerly the tertiary education committee).
Joint meeting between democratic political forces:
- MSU: L.Bold, D.Jargalsaikhan, Zorigoo (student), Rentsentavkhai
- Shine Devshil Kholboo: Batsukh (professor/teacher), B.Sundui, Sh.Shagdarsuren, J.Bor
- Democratic Socialist Movement: Ch.Lkhagvajav, R.Khatanbaatar, P.Ulaankhuu, R.Gonchigdorj
- Mongolian Democratic Union: Ya.Batsukh, Jargalsaikhan (Buyan), Ts.Elbegdorj (Ulaan Od), Tumurbaatar
Each of these four groups were represented by four people (as above). A very lengthy debate on two items:
- What common principles and actions can we agree on?
- About organizing a peaceful demonstration on 4 March
Special notes on who said what:
B.Jargalsaikhan (Buyan) from the Mongolian Democratic Union:
– Same as Tsedenbal, Sodnom has a Russian wife and sides with Russia. We have the secret document signed by him. He sold Mongolia again by making us owe 1.3 billion dollars to Russia.
– Ambassador Sitkhinov did a press conference yesterday at the Soviet embassy and said “Well, we will give your herders candles and other consumer products worth 25 million rubles.”
– The current leaders of the party are criminals, so we won’t sit on the same table with them to negotiate.
Ts.Elbegdorj (journalist in Ulaan Od) from the Mongolian Democratic Union:
– The MSU should orchestrate a students strike and encourage students to not go to school on Saturday 4 March.
– If the students strike is not organized, a workers’ strike will be organized in manufacturing plants.
– These two days – 3 and 4 March – are revolutionary days. So there might even be blood. The Mongolian Democratic Union has 102 branches in Ulaanbaatar alone.
– If we don’t change our country now, foreign students will come here carrying suitcases in the summer and do the demonstration for us.
At the end of the meeting, there was a working group established, which consisted of Ts.Elbegdorj (Mongolian Students Union), Batsukh (Shine Devshil Kholboo), Gonchigdorj (Democratic Socialist Movement) and Jargalsaikhan (MSU). The working group developed the following documents that were later approved jointly:
- Joint statement addressed to the Mongolian People’s Republic, the People’s Assembly, the Presidium Committee of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, and the Ministers’ Council
- Appeal to the whole of the Mongolian People’s Republic’s defence forces and the Ministry of Public Security
The joint statement called for:
- Hold the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party’s extraordinary general assembly in March, change the Party’s Representatives Khural’s structure, and separate the political party from the state and government
- Hold an extraordinary People’s General Assembly and elect a President in a free election where all political forces have equal rights and powers
- Prioritise independence of the state, unity of the nation, and security of the people
The appeal to the ministries called for:
- Abstain from using arms against people under any circumstances
Decision:
- Representatives will convene on the Sukhbaatar Square at 9am on 3 March and present the joint statement to Batmunkh, the leader of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, at 10am (The MSU didn’t agree to the students’ strike)
- Organize a joint demonstration at 1pm on 4 March and receive a response from Batmunkh to the joint statement
- No agreement on holding the demonstrations on the Sukhbaatar Square, despite the push from the Mongolian Democratic Union. Agreed to discuss again at 6pm on 27 February.
9:30-10:10pm. Us four (the MSU representatives) came back to the National University of Mongolia’s Students Council and presented the outcomes of the joint meeting to over 20 students. It was well received and the attendees congratulated us on the result.
10:10-11:00pm. L.Bold and I met in his room and discussed about organizing the 4th conference of the Mongolian Student Union.
Note:
At the time, I used to work in Prague, representing the Mongolian Student Union in the International Union of Students. I came back to Ulaanbaatar and attended the first general assembly of the Mongolian Democratic Union on Sunday 18 February 1990. I went there with P.Tsenguun (now with Altan Taria), who was a student then.
I used to stay up late, reorganizing my notes from the day and putting them together into neater records. As the MSU, we needed to find and engage with these new organizations who were calling themselves a ‘political force’, invite them to discussions, and discuss how we could work together and join forces.
This meeting, which was the first ever, saw a strong attendance with many people present, all of whom were trying to make their voice heard. Given the organization was not that good and as per a proposal from Gonchigdorj, each organization agreed to elect four members to represent them and hold the discussions. From then on, the meeting process was much smoother.
In any case, after lengthy discussions on changing the state and government of a new Mongolia, we produced our first official statement. We went into an adjoining room and put the statement on paper together with two people who would later become the Speaker of Parliament and the President.
Out of these four organizations, the MSU was the only organization that had an official registration in the state system, its own stamp, and a typewriter. At the time, the Mongolian Democratic Association was trying to establish a coalition government, despite not being a political party.
The next meeting between these four democratic forces took place at 6.30pm on 27 February 1990. I have the notes from this meeting as well. It was the second day of the Lunar New year of Iron Horse.
2019.04.17
Trans. by B.Amar