A heated session of Parliament took place on Friday to review the demand for Cabinet’s resignation. The two factions of lawmakers representing the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) in Parliament, which are led by Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh and Speaker of Parliament M.Enkhbold, grilled each other throughout the day.

The session attendance reached a record high for this year as 73 out of 75 lawmakers participated in the November 30 session, meaning all lawmakers attended the session, excluding G.Munkhtsetseg and B.Batzorig who are on a trip abroad.

When the final vote for Cabinet resignation took place, 40 lawmakers (54.8 percent) voted against the Cabinet resignation demand, while 33 voted for the decision of State Structure Standing Committee that accepted Cabinet’s resignation, securing U.Khurelsukh’s seat as prime minister.

Once independent lawmakers S.Javkhlan voted for U.Khurelsukh, three of the Democratic Party (DP)’s nine lawmakers L.Bold, J.Batzandan, and D.Murat supported U.Khurelsukh, and six others voted for Cabinet’s resignation. The sole lawmaker representing the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party O.Baasankhuu voted against U.Khurelsukh.

During the session, lawmaker S.Javkhlan said, “I listened to the opinions of people who elected me to Parliament on Cabinet’s resignation, and they said to me that I have to vote against Cabinet’s resignation, not only my voters, but also most Mongolians are standing against U.Khurelsukh’s Cabinet collapse, so I will vote against Cabinet resignation.”

S.Javkhlan called on MPP lawmakers to stop their disputes over the ongoing struggle for influence in the legislature and executive state branch.

Caucus Chairman of DP D.Erdenebat said, “The ongoing dispute with MPP is undermining the country, and a long-standing conflict between MPP lawmakers is revealing the party’s real face before Mongolians’ eyes, and if the lawmakers cannot fulfill their responsibilities and duties, we have to disband Parliament.” 

D.Erdenebat emphasized that Parliament is a legislative institution, not court or business organization, but today’s some lawmakers are abusing the fundamental principles of the nation’s legislature and undermining the reputation of Parliament.
The caucus chairman stressed that as the government is not an institution that makes business and U.Khurelsukh’s Cabinet cannot ensure fair competition for a fair and free market, he supports the demand for Cabinet’s resignation. 

He said that the prime minister’s promises to bring justice to society, and strengthen discipline and ensure accountability and transparency in the state apparatus seem to sound like an illusion. D.Erdenebat asserted that both M.Enkhbold and U.Khurelsukh should step down from their current positions to restore public confidence in the legislature and government.

Chairman of DP S.Erdene stated that U.Khurelsukh is spending a lot of money for “PR” to consolidate his Cabinet for a short period of time by taking advantage of social media to manipulate the public, and this is why U.Khurelsukh started talking about justice only after his Cabinet was faced with an ultimatum. He asked the prime minister why he did not bring justice to society during his one year and three months in office.

O.Baasankhuu said that U.Khurelsukh did not fulfill his promises, and he is still making his promises until today, which means that he should not be allowed to continue on as the head of state.

Speaker M.Enkhbold stated that some lawmakers are making political moves to undermine his reputation, but they are misleading people about the operations of national law enforcement authorities by clamming that M.Enkhbold controls the law enforcement system. He said that lawmakers have to stop distributing “fake” news to manipulate the public.

U.Khurelsukh said that he will continue his reform to bring justice to society and destroy a “wall of injustice” which hides “billionaires born from the state”, oligarchs controlling the country, and their associates. The prime minister added that he will keep demanding M.Enkhbold’s resignation as speaker of Parliament.