In December, Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh decided to oust Minister of Roads and Transportation Ya.Sodbaatar and Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports Ts.Tsogzolmaa from Cabinet as a company under the ownership of Ya.Sodbaatar’s wife took out a soft loan of 1.2 billion MNT from the Fund to Develop Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Ts.Tsogzolmaa voted for Cabinet’s dissolution, but a parliamentary review for the dismissals of the two ministers was postponed for two months as nearly 40 lawmakers boycotted parliamentary sessions.

As Parliament accepted the dismissals of the two ministers on February 2 and appointed Cabinet minister G.Zandanshatar as the speaker, Cabinet had three important vacancies to fill.

Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh said he did not wish to have an empty seat within his Cabinet at the end of the fall session of Parliament.

As the prime minister, U.Khurelsukh nominated lawmaker L.Oyun-Erdene as Cabinet secretariat, Yo.Baatarbileg as minister of education, culture, science and sports, and B.Enkh-Amgalan as minister of roads and transportation on February 2.

After the Mongolian People’s Party caucus and relevant standing committees supported the nominees proposed by U.Khurelsukh on the same day, Parliament accepted the appointments of the three candidates.

During Parliament’s review of the nominees, lawmaker O.Baasankhuu of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party asked the three candidates whether they will reappoint the 77 department heads and government officials who were fired for “no reason” by the previous ministers. O.Baasankhuu said that the court ordered the reappointment of the department heads.

In response to O.Baasankhuu’s question, none of the three candidates gave a clear answer, and they all said that they will review what happened to the 77 government officials after taking office.

As Parliament rushed to appoint the three nominees before Tsagaan Sar, few lawmakers asked the nominees about their action plans.

L.Oyun-Erdene was born in 1980 in Ulaanbaatar, and graduated from Bers Institute as a journalist in 2001, earned master’s degrees in education from the Mongolian University of Education in 2008 and in politics from the National University of Mongolia in 2011, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 2015.

He worked as chief of staff to Khentii Province’s Berkh City’s Mayor Office in 2001, and worked at World Vision Mongolia as a project coordinator in Khentii Province for several years since 2002.

L.Oyun-Erdene served as head of Bayanzurkh District’s Social Policy Department in 2008, and head of MPP board’s administrative office in 2009, a secretary and acting secretary general of MPP from 2011 to 2012, and president of the Social Democratic Youth Federation under the MPP from 2010 to 2014. He was elected in 2016.

Yo.Baatarbileg (Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sports) graduated from the National University of Mongolia as a historian, archaeologist and anthropologist in 2002, and holds a master’s degree from the same university, which he obtained in 2004.

Following graduation, Yo.Baatarbileg began working for the President’s Office as an officer, and senior officer, and an assistant to the president from 2002 to 2009.

He served as an adviser to the minister of food, agriculture and light industry from 2009 to 2010, Mayor of Arkhangai Province from 2010 to 2012, and a representative of Arkhangai Province’s Citizen Representative Council from 2012 to 2016.

Arkhangai Province residents elected him as a lawmaker in 2016, and since 2017, he has been serving as the head of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Policy, Education, Culture and Science.

B.Enkh-Amgalan (Minister of Roads and Transportation) was born in 1971, and finished Secondary School No. 2 of Altai City, the capital of Govi-Altai Province, in 1989, and graduated from Soviet Union’s National Security Commission’s Academy in 1991 and the National University of Mongolia in 1995.

He worked at the General Authority for National Security as an officer from 1995 to 1999, and as a director of his own companies, including Misheel Group LLC, from 1999 to 2016.

In addition, B.Enkh-Amgalan was a member of Ulaanbaatar City Council from 2008 to 2016, and was elected to Parliament from Khan-Uul District in 2016.