Are Presidential Elections Putting Mongolian Democracy in Peril?

My latest piece with PhD Fernando Casal Bertoa at The Diplomat

Presidential elections will take place in Mongolia for the eighth time since the democratic revolution in 1990 on June 9th. In the weeks leading to these elections political stakes have been higher than ever, Political polarization has been coupled with court rulings, presidential decrees, party splits and also mergers. As explained in this article, all this has put Mongolia’s rather institutionalized party system in an unprecedented state of instability which, if not checked, might lead to the unexpected collapse of democracy in the country. As Mongolians know well, the current form of government was not even a must. 

Historically, Mongolia never had a President until the figure was introduced in the aftermath of the 1990 revolution. Still, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, former Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Great Khural (as the Communist parliament was named) and first Mongolian President was appointed by parliament. It was only two years later that the new Constitution, after long and hard discussions, decided to have the Head of State popularly elected. This way Ochirbat was re- elected President with 60 percent of the votes on June 6th, 1993. We revisit here not only the problems popular presidential elections have posed for Mongolian politics in the past but also the reasons why the current situation is not surprising. 

Ever since the American-based Spanish scholar Juan Linz published his seminal The Perils of Presidentialism (1990), academics have showcased the problems popular presidential elections might entail. In a recent policy paper published by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, another Spanish scholar – although this time British-based – warns about the perils popular presidential elections entail. There he shows that, among other issues, popular presidential elections might lead to party de-institutionalization, party system fragmentation, and polarization.

Read the full article from here 

The Price of Limiting Power

A new post at Verfassungsblog

On 18 April 2021, Mongolia’s political landscape was hit by an unexpected event: President Battulga Khaltmaa issued an official decree in which he suggested to dissolve Mongolia’s 100-year-old ruling party, the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP). What appears to be a political problem at first glance, points to a deeper crisis of Mongolia’s constitutional democracy. Not only the scope of Presidential powers, but also the so called National Security Council (NSC) and Constitutional Court are in urgent need of reform. I argue that this deeper crisis consists of institutional conflicts between the President (who has been elected from the main opposition party) on the one side, and the ruling party and prime minister on the other side.

Back to Political Volatility

Until 1990, Mongolia had been a communist one-party regime under the MPP for 70 years. It was only in 1990 that the transition to democracy came along with a transition to a multi-party system with free and fair elections. Since then, Mongolia has been led by 17 different governments, making it one of the most politically volatile countries in the region. Despite this tumultuous history, the country managed to successfully organize parliamentary elections last June, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling MPP which retained its super-majority in the country’s unicameral parliament. The MPP chairman and incumbent Prime Minister, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, was re-elected for a second term. It seemed like Mongolia might experience a rare period of political stability.

Read full article from here