The eighth presidential election that elected the sixth President of Mongolia was held on the 9th of June, 2021. In accordance with the 2019 constitutional amendments, the three parties with seats in the parliament nominated three candidates to serve as president for a single 6-year term. The voter turnout was with 59.35% at a historic low, while the chairman of the MPP and the ex-PM U. Khurelsukh received 67.69% of the votes (823 thousand), a record-high figure. Zuv Khun Electorate (NLP) candidate D. Enkhbat received 20.31% of the votes, whereas the percentage was 5.99 for DP candidate S. Erdene. Moreover, 5.92% of the voters cast blank ballots, not supporting any of the candidates.
It is the voters’ duty to evaluate the characteristics and the meaning of this recent election in democratic Mongolia and to identify the lessons.
The form and appearance
The election took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. After a candidate contracted the virus, authorities did not permit the National Public Television to air the most-anticipated debate. The election campaign was restricted to only fourteen days.
In terms of cost, the ruling party “made it rain” with hundreds of billions of tugriks. The 100th-anniversary medal of the MPP was distributed to almost every citizen with 100-200 thousand tugriks on the side using the local administration power of all levels. The campaign even included the Parliament chairman and the members (62) touring electoral districts, along with ministers and officials as well as employees from SOEs, some due to pressure. The line between the party’s money and the state budget was practically invisible. Moreover, the government was pushing commercial banks to activate the 3% soft loan program which it came up with for reviving the economy and promoting employment.
The leadership of the DP concluded that the MPP has “bought the state election with budget money.” The DP spent a relatively small amount of money since they are not in power. Meanwhile, the NLP had announced spending an even lower budget of 1.2 billion tugriks for the campaign. The total budget for organizing the election amounted to 27 billion tugriks.
A closer look at the maturity of democracy
The reasons for the MPP’s landslide victory were the exaggerated welfare policy, cash distribution, pressure at the workplace, as well as buying off from the MPRP just before the election campaign by which Ganbaatar S. was disallowed from running for the presidential office again. Ganbaatar S. gained 30% of votes in the previous election for presidency.
Another reason was that the DP, which has always been the opposition, had an internal split and conflict. The fight between ten DP parliament members who are backed by President Kh. Battulga’s and the supporters of the DP chairman, presidential candidate S. Erdene, led to a nationwide split within the party. This resulted in many members and supporters of the DP casting blank votes or voting for the NLP.
The governing parties have made it a habit to amend the election law and other relevant laws in their favour right before the election, and the Mongolians have tolerated it. This year was no different when they cunningly shortened the allowed campaign period, making it harder for candidates to tour the nation to make their case . This time around, most of the campaign was online, with hundreds of trolls (fake names and accounts) working.
Allowing people to vote only at their registered places of residence resulted in low turnout among the youth and permitting voting only at the embassy similarly allowed only a small number of people living abroad to cast their ballots. Citizens demanded the option of using modern technology and smartphones, which would enable them to vote from anywhere. “Black machines” (vote counting technology) were used again. The results were broadcasted live, and then all votes were recounted and confirmed manually, dispelling public skepticism.
Although the media actively participated in the elections, most were dependent on their politically active owners, and the broadcasters often provided paid programs instead of analyzing candidates’ platforms, according to foreign observers. Moreover, the National Audit Office now reviews and approves candidates’ election platforms in advance, which might enable the authority to infringe on their rights and influence them. The inability to run as an independent candidate in the presidential election violates the citizens’ right to vote and be elected. The observers also concluded that people in prisons and hospitals were not given an opportunity to vote.
The very voters who elected the DP for three consecutive presidential elections had lost faith in the maturity of democracy, leading to a three times lower vote to be casted for the first-time candidate D. Enkhbat and the DP chairman altogether than the votes for U. Khurelsukh.
Funds and sources, which are the most important and influential factors for election campaigns, remained secret just like all previous elections. Not to mention that in poorly developed, poverty-stricken countries like Mongolia, democratic elections are usually made by people’s “stomachs.” If the public had been regularly informed about who and where a candidate was receiving donations during and after the election, it would have played a significant role in the outcome of the election and the democracy consolidation.
The constant reluctance of ruling parties to create a monitoring system for the reporting of funding of Mongolian political parties and election campaigns has continually strengthened the roots of corruption.
Conclusion
With U. Khurelsukh’s victory, Mongolia’s political power has been transferred to the hands of a single party for the first time since the democratic revolution. Some researchers view this as the creation of a one-party domination. It looks like it will take a while for the DP to resolve its conflict and to strengthen itself with unified values and ideology. Also, it is not likely that the NLP will develop as the third major party, gather supporters in every province, and win the election in the near future.
Regardless, it seems as though the MPP will stay in power for many years. In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party has ruled the country for 90% of the period, except for two terms (1993-1994, 2009-2013) since its formation in 1955. The main reason is that the party has strong factions surrounding its leader, is not falling behind any other opposition party in their ability to strongly criticize the party’s policies and activities and adapts to the needs of the time. Will factions like this be able to form within the MPP? Can the faction leaders keep their reputation or stay free from corruption and put the public interests before their own?
So far, neither the MPP nor the voters can provide a complete answer to this question. Regardless, the current owner of Mongolia’s wealth is not the citizens but the MPP. When will the “owners” switch places? If it is supposed to change, it depends more on us, the citizens, but not on the MPP. The participation of every citizen is needed to strengthen our democratic state and monitor the elected government.
2021.06.16
Trans. by Riya.T and Munkh-Erdene.D