During its plenary session on April 22, Parliament discussed the conclusion of the Constitutional Court of April 16, which states that Articles 3.1.2 and 5.4 of the Law on Presidential Election violated the Constitution of Mongolia.

The court ruled that it is unconstitutional that the Law on the Presidential Election does not specifically prohibit former presidents and the current president from running for re-election.

During the session, some members expressed their view on the conclusion.

Lawmaker A.Adiyasuren stressed that the fact that the Constitutional Court is involved in the interests of one party, group or individual is reflected in the issue discussed.

Highlighting that Parliament must abide by the Constitution, lawmaker Ts.Munkhtsetseg said, “The Constitution states that the Constitutional Court shall exercise supreme control over the implementation of the Constitution, and issue a conclusion on the violation of its provisions. Therefore, we must accept the conclusion of the court.”

“The constitutional amendment clearly sets out the requirements and criteria for a candidate of a presidential election. Article 30.2 of the law stipulates that a citizen of Mongolia who reached the age of 50, has resided in the country for at least the last five years, and is a native of Mongolia shall be elected as president only once for a term of six years. However, it is wrong to omit this provision in the Law on Presidential Election,” she added.

She also noted that the Democratic Party (DP) signed a cooperation agreement with a US lobby group for the presidential election.

Expressing his support for the constitutional court’s decision, legislator Ts.Munkh-Orgil said, “Member N.Ganibal believes that the presidential election is going to be a mess. However, DP is trying to murky the election. There is a US registry that registers lobbying companies. According to the registration, the US lobby group DCI signed a lobbying agreement with DP worth 50,000 USD, which was signed by Ts.Tuvaan. This was signed for the same period as the election campaign.”

Lawmaker Ts.Tuvaan noted, “DP responsibly says that it did not pay 50,000 USD. We are not such a rich party. Member Ts.Munkh-Orgil must be mistaken.”

Legislator D.Tsogtbaatar said that every point and comma of the Constitution is law, and lawmakers have a duty to abide by it. “It is right to accept the decision of the court. It is true that the Election Law cannot be amended six months before an election. However, we have no choice but to change it now,” he said.

“There has been criticism that the National Labor Party’s people are working for the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP). There is no such thing. We do not bargain like you do,” lawmaker T.Dorjkhand said. “It is a mistake of last Parliament and MPP to deliberately omit the provision related to the presidential election. If DP does not have a brave and strong person, someone other than Kh.Battulga, support our party’s candidate.”

During the discussion, Head of the DP caucus in Parliament D.Ganbat proposed to take a five-day break, but Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar gave a break until 4:00 p.m. the same day.

Legislator S.Odontuya proposed to get acquainted with the pandemic situation during the session.

She said, “The pandemic situation is worsening day by day. In total, more than 25,000 people became infected and 56 have died. Due to such seriousness, a proposal is made. The people are waiting for our decision. Therefore, I would like to hear information about the pandemic situation today. The prime minister and the State Emergency Commission must attend the session. We need to talk about whether we can control the pandemic.”