In 2015, the politics of Mongolia were largely dominated by the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), which had been in power since 2008. The MPP was led by Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg and focused on a range of social and economic reforms, such as reducing poverty and improving access to health care. The party also sought to promote Mongolia’s reputation as an emerging market, and to improve its relationship with other countries in the region. Other political parties included the Democratic Party (DP) and the Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP). See ehealthfacts for Mongolia in the year of 2005.
The 2015 election was held in June of that year and saw Saikhanbileg’s MPP win a majority in both chambers of Parliament with 65 out of 76 seats. This ensured that they would remain in power for another four years. During this time, Prime Minister Saikhanbileg sought to implement further reforms to improve Mongolia’s economic standing while ensuring social justice for all citizens. He also worked towards improving relations with other countries in the region and strengthening ties with international organizations such as the United Nations. In 2019, he was succeeded by Ukhnaa Khurelsukh following a successful presidential election campaign.
Yearbook 2015
Mongolia. In a difficult economic crisis, Mongolia sought new foreign investors at the beginning of the year by opening large land areas for mining exploitation. Following the new supply, close to one fifth of the country’s surface is open for mining, an area larger than Norrland. The country is estimated to have gold, copper, iron and other ore assets worth $ 1.5 trillion.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia which is located in Eastern Asia. Copper, coal, iron, oil and gold account for about 85% of exports, but the fall in commodity prices and conflicts around foreign ownership had reduced foreign investment in Mongolia by about 80% in one year. Although GDP growth was around 8%, it had halved since 2011, and the currency’s rye had fallen sharply in value.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Mongolia country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In May, Mongolia agreed with British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto on an extension of the copper and gold mine Oyu Tolgoi to underground mining. The conflict had been going on for years and hampered the country’s economy. The expansion of the giant mine is expected to increase Mongolia’s GDP by a third. At the same time, there have been protests against the damage to the environment and the many poor Mongols getting so little of the mining wealth.
Parallel to reduced mining income, Mongolia suffered severe drought during the summer. Most of the wheat crop was knocked out and the livestock feed reserves shrank when the worst winter of years was expected. The government planned to ban the export of wheat and meat before the winter to save domestic supply, but it was still expected that a lot of livestock must be slaughtered.
Mongolia blames climate change for the uncertain weather caused by high global greenhouse gas emissions. Although Mongolia itself has relatively low emissions, the country has experienced a temperature increase of just over 2 degrees in seven decades, three times faster than the global average.
In August, the six Mongolian People’s Ministers were dismissed by Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg, who nevertheless had a majority in Parliament with his own Democratic Party. By breaking up the government well in advance of the 2016 election, the two major parties were given the opportunity to conduct an election campaign separately after cooperating with the important decision on the Oyu Tolgoi mine.
HISTORY
The modernization process initiated with the end of the political monopoly of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, PRPM (1992), continued to remain, at the turn of the century, still unfinished, undermined by growing economic disparities and by the serious political instability that weakened the institutions.
The rapid transition to a market economy promoted by the liberal governments that established themselves in the 1990s, if it had attracted large foreign capital and activated a new productive dynamic, had also entailed serious social costs, generating widespread discontent. This penalized the parties of the ruling coalition (the Democratic Alliance, formed by National Democrats and Social Democrats) and revived the Revolutionary Party which, presenting itself as the guarantor of greater social equity, managed to win a landslide both in the legislative elections in July 2000 (72 of the 76 seats up for grabs) – after which its leader N. Enkhbayar was appointed prime minister – and in the presidential elections of May 2001which confirmed the outgoing president N. Bagabandi (in office since 1997).
Despite the criticisms leveled in the election campaign against the economic policies of the previous governments, the new executive continued, albeit in more attenuated forms, the policy of privatization and financial consolidation of the state budget, completing the privatization of the lands in May 2003. This allowed the country to continue to enjoy international economic aid, but made the Revolutionary Party unpopular, which found itself increasingly isolated and in difficulty, also due to the involvement of some of its prominent exponents in financial scandals. In the political elections of June 2004, the PRPM suffered a heavy defeat (dropping to 36 seats), for the benefit of the new coalition of opposition forces, called the Democratic Coalition of the Fatherland (34 seats). After months of negotiations, in August a broad-based government was formed, led by the leader of the Democratic Coalition Ts. Elbegdorj, but the political situation remained extremely uncertain. The alliance of the parties of the Democratic Coalition quickly entered into crisis, generating confusion and confusion among its members. The Revolutionary Party took advantage of this and managed to impose once again its own candidate, the former Prime Minister Enkhbayar, in the presidential elections of May 2005. In January 2006 Elbegdorj was forced to resign, following a vote of no confidence of the Parliament on the economic line of the executive, and a new government was formed, led by Mongolia Enkhbold exponent of the Revolutionary Party.
In foreign policy, Mongolia, in addition to pursuing a policy of equilibrium towards both Russia and China, worked to intensify relations with Western Europe and the United States.