During its plenary session on January 20, Parliament passed the draft parliamentary resolution on announcing the regular election of the president of Mongolia in 2021 and setting the date of polling, as well as the draft parliamentary resolution on the use of equipment for the 2021 presidential election.
Based on Article 25.1.3 of the Constitution and articles 8.1 and 8.2 of the Law on Presidential Election, the draft resolution stipulates that the activity of the regular presidential election will start on January 25 and the polling day is scheduled for June 9, 2021.
Chairman of the Standing Committee on State Structure L.Enkh-Amgalan said, “It is estimated that 28 billion MNT will be needed to hold the presidential election, and about 1 billion MNT will be needed for the by-election in Songinokhairkhan District. Therefore, in order to save costs, the by-election of Parliament should be held together with the regular presidential election.”
In accordance with the Law on Automated Election Systems, Parliament supported to use New Image Cast device for voting and counting.
In addition, the draft amendment to the Banking Law was discussed. During the discussion, some lawmakers expressed their views on the bill.
Lawmaker G.Damdinnyam said, “This attempt to break the dominance of bank owners has been going on in the Mongolian Parliament for generations. But today it is entering the stage of approval. There are members who oppose it. I will always stand up for my people, who are under oppression and exploitation. We must be brave and complete the banking reform.”
Parliament also discussed the draft revision of the Law on Patent and transferred it to the Standing Committee on Justice for preparation.
In addition to registering new innovations, product designs and utility models, the draft revision of the Law on Patent provides for the regulation of issues related to the exclusive rights of the patent, and the details of the license agreement.
The bill initiator believes that it is necessary to reconsider the decision to grant or refuse a patent, and create conditions for the provision of time concessions to innovators and applicants. The regulations on electronic submission of inventions, product designs and utility model declarations have been revised, and regulations related to requesting quality judgments and reporting about inventions, utility models and product designs have been amended.
During the discussion of the draft revision of the Law on Labor, the Democratic Party caucus in Parliament requested a three-day adjournment of the bill.
Chairman of the caucus D.Ganbat said that failure to properly review the draft revision of the Law on Labor will be an infringement on the employment rights of employers and employees.
Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar accepted the request and instructed the relevant standing committee, working group and party caucuses to bring the bill in line with market principles, the Constitution and the Civil Code.
APPOINTMENT
Parliament appointed Director General of Research and Statistics Department, Bank of Mongolia B.Batdavaa as chair of the National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSO).
B.Batdavaa graduated from Ming Chuan University with a bachelor’s degree in 2007 and studied at the University of Luxembourg. He served as accountant, economist, resource specialist, dealer, senior specialist, and senior dealer at the Settlement and Registration Department and Currency and Economic Department, Mongol Bank from 2007 to 2012.
From 2013 to 2016, he worked as director of the Balance of Payments Statistics Division, and from 2016 to 2019, as director of the Foreign Exchange Resource Management Division of the central bank.
In accordance with Article 14.1.5 of the Act of Parliament and Article 13.1 of the Law on Statistics, the chair of the NSO is appointed by Parliament on recommendation of the speaker of Parliament for a term of six years.
