You are competing in the parliamentary election of Mongolia. I am confident that you have made this decision after careful thought and consideration. If you were in the “defacto” interview, I would ask the following ten questions:
Question one
What is your ultimate goal in becoming a member of parliament? Could you please tell me your three most important objectives? Can you swear by your parents’ name that all of them are absolutely true? What is the slogan of your election campaign? Do you completely believe in it? Can you measure the implementation of your slogan? It is said that one cannot manage what cannot be measured.
Question two
Where will you start cleaning up the public corruption that poses the most serious threat to our national security? How will you stop this state-business organized crime, which manages license trade of Ulaanbaatar’s land and mining? How will you change “zaisaning”, a Mongolian standard where they make amendments to the law for adapting to their own interests or as they please? What should be done to the Constitutional Court of Mongolia whose duty is to ensure the implementation of law; but built a palace in Zaisan and made corruption more protected than the Bogd Mountain?
Question three
Can you implement the “long-named law” that bans mineral exploration and mining in basins of rivers and forests? What do you think Mongolia should do with its mining income in order to diversify its economy?
Question four
Are you a leader? Can you influence the decision making of others? What will you do in order to establish justice in public governance? The headquarters of a political party was burnt down along with an arts and cultural palace during the unrest that followed the last election. The authorities replaced the party headquarters with a new and larger one that cost MNT 14 billion from the budget. However, they did nothing about the arts and cultural palace, which remains like a war damaged building. What conclusions do you draw from that? What is your view that the next election is already here after a long political play that masked the true faces of those who are responsible for the shooting of five people who lost their lives?
Question five
Do you think that your knowledge, education, ethics, cultural behaviour and your foreign language competence are good enough to lead the great cause of developing our mother nation? A single language will not be enough for a globalized Mongolia.
Question six
Do you agree that a person incapable of controlling himself can never lead others? How can you stop the state from producing billionaires from the state budget? Can you stop someone who buys a government positions from your political party by giving donations? What exactly have you done to tame corruption if you were a member of parliament before or listed in the name list of a political party this time? Have you done nothing putting the blame on the system rather than yourself? Have you been encouraging injustice by staying silent? Or are you one of those absolutely corrupt who donate a lot and buy the whole shop rather than newsstands?
Question seven
Are you planning on fulfilling your own private needs at first after becoming a member of parliament? Will you continue the 21st century tradition of Mongolian governance where one misuses his authority granted by the state for own personal interests, expanding his companies and creating conditions to gain monopoly profits? If you are bearing these thoughts in secret, please keep in mind that the state does not create but allocates value or capital and, as democracy flourishes alongside justice, less public properties will be left unaccounted for and those who abuses it will be held responsible. This is only a matter of time.
Question eight
As a member of parliament, you will be representing Mongolia and its people. Do you believe that what you do and what you say will be considered as a good example for many people, especially the youth?
Question nine
Where did your election campaign finance come from? Your bookkeeper should be recording every single donation and donors. No matter if you win or lose in the election, it is imperative that you publish your finance report. If you are thinking of getting elected with your expenditures financed by loans and paying your debt back by passing a law that protects your creditor’s interest, making the creditor win a tender or promising them government posts, it would be public corruption. If that is the case, you will be punished by the law one day
Question ten
Do you accept that you will become a servant of your people, not their master, when you are elected as a member of parliament? Public servants express the ethical colours of a society. What do you think about the people who view the politics as a profession and try to have their children inherit?
If you, candidate, are answering most of the questions above perfectly, let me congratulate you. If you are hesitant in answering most of the questions, is there really a need or is it ethical to waste hundreds of millions of tugrugs, both of yours and of others? Do not forget that, instead of that, you could build several kindergartens or schools and fix roads with the money in a developing country like Mongolia.
Also, you, dear voter, should make your choice only after hearing their answers to these questions, when choosing your representative in the parliament.
In the end, every nation deserves its rulers. If people do their best, there will be a cleaner state.
Translated by B.AMAR