S.Bayar to be Prime Minister of Mongolia
MONGOLIA will have a new Prime Minister soon. The ruling Mongolian
People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) last week elected a new chairman
and also resolved that the Party Chairman and Prime Minister will from
now on be the same person.
57 Percent in MPRP Congress Opt for Change
MONGOLIA will have a new Prime Minister soon. The ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) last week elected a new chairman and also resolved that the Party Chairman and Prime Minister will from now on be the same person.
The new choice is S.Bayar, presently the party’s Secretary General. His nomination as Chairman was supported on October 26 by 377 of the 666 delegates (56.6 percent) to the 25th Congress of Mongolia’s oldest political party.
The only other candidate, present chairman M.Enkhbold, who is also the country’s Prime Minister, received 289 votes. Downgraded to being just a secretary of the party, he will remain a Member of Parliament.
The 25th Congress met for longer than usual. The main item on its agenda was a discussion of reforms in the leadership structure demanded by an increasingly assertive group in the party. This faction forcefully accused senior leaders of the party and of the cabinet of the ruling coalition it leads of corruption, abuse of power, incompetence, and irresponsibility.
“Our immediate goal is to win the upcoming parliamentary election of 2008. I will do my best to reach this goal,” said S.Bayar, after his elevation. Ts.Elbegdorj, head of the Democratic Party, the main opposition force, dismissed the claim by saying, “Bayar does not decide who wins the election. It is the people’s verdict.” During the Congress Elbegdorj had referred to it as “a gathering of corrupt rulers”.
The Congress passed a resolution that the posts of chairman and prime minister must be held by the same person. Bayar is likely to announce his government next week, and Parliament will then have to approve the composition.
He has indicated that he will negotiate with all parties in Parliament on the formation of government. He may cast his net wide, with the hint that between one-third and half of the cabinet posts would go to members of Parliament and the rest to others.
There is intense media speculation on what the new government will look like, on who stays on and who is replaced. Bayar has said that he wants Enkhbold to continue to be in the government, as a minister. This, he feels, will keep alive the concept of a government of “national unity”. “I hope he accepts my offer,” Bayar said at a press conference.
The MPRP currently has 39 seats in the 76-member Parliament, giving it an absolute majority. However it has continued with the coalition that came to power in January 2006 with Enkhbold as Prime Minister. Its partners in the coalition are the National New Party, the Republican Party, and the Motherland Party.
Yo.Otgonbayar, a former chair of the MPRP’s capital city field office, has been elected to the position of Secretary General of the MPRP. On keeping with the policy of rotation, 255 members of the Steering Committee have given way to new faces. The MPRP, founded in 1921, is the largest political force in Mongolia with over 160,000 members.
Written by Ch.Sumiyabazar
The UB Post
