What could go wrong in 3 weeks of protest? A lot. A longer version on Mongolia’s current political landscape.
On June 12, the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) appointed Zandanshatar Gombojav, a former Speaker of the Parliament of Mongolia, as the 34th Prime Minister of Mongolia. Zandanshatar’s new cabinet was sworn in on June 17. But, before Zandanshatar was appointed, Mongolia experienced three weeks of political unrest. What prompted as an organic youth protest quickly turned into a bizarre political clout, even mingling with the country’s foreign affairs.
Pressuring the newly elected 126 parliamentarians
On June 3, the Parliament of Mongolia voted no confidence on Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, who has now stepped down after serving for 5 consecutive years. Considering Mongolia’s unstable executive branch, Oyun-Erdene has now become the longest serving PM in modern Mongolia’s history. By the time the parliament voted on the resolution, the Mongolian youth protest had already been continued for three weeks straight. Within the three weeks of this period, what shocked and upset the people was that there was no direct communique nor any effort to find a resolution to the conflict. In retrospect and true at the time of the protests, the Prime minister should have met and talked to the young people. Instead, Oyun-erdene took matters in his own hand and turned political and the Mongolian parliament was now involved. 
Events that have unfolded in the past three weeks demonstrate multifaceted issues in Mongolian political life. Stemmed from a frustration over the Prime minister’s son’s lavish lifestyle, the protest and the ousting of Oyun-Erdene and his coalition government quickly turned into a political ambiguity of democracy, discussions on change in governance model, and a fight between nepotism and meritocracy.
As hundreds of protestors gathered at the Sukhbaatar Square, a secret ballot was drawn either to show confidence or no confidence on Oyun-Erdene’s political request to remain in office. The members of the Parliament were indeed divided. Media coverages shed light on mixed but legit concerns of unstable government, economic concerns, but also how to respond to the people’s demand. To the legislatures, listening to their constituencies were equally important to that of having a stable executive branch. After all, parliamentarians are elected officials, chosen by the people, to represent the people, not to serve a single government or an individual politician. 
Mongolia’s newly elected 126 parliamentarians were put into a difficult position. The protest continued, while becoming ever more diverse. They also began to pressure the members of the parliaments to be on the people’s side.
While this was happening in the government building, the protestors took their demands to social media. The Instagram account, ogtsrokh_amarakh posted social media posts targeting new members of the parliament. In an organized message, the protestors and the constituencies sent, “If you trust [h]im—the Prime Minister—we will not trust you.” 
Parliamentary members, such as Luvsanjamts Ganzorig, Japan-educated architect, Enkhtsetseg Munkhchuluun, Anar Chinbaatar, CEO of Ondo Space, Saranchuluun Otgon, a voice and representative for the disabled and the underserved communities, Uyanga Bold, major advocate for sustainable development, Bum-Ochir Dulam, Oxford-graduate, a leading anthropologist and more members received messages from their constituencies, demanding to vote no confidence to oust Oyun-Erdene. 
Ahead of the vote, the Democratic Party (DP) ministers withdrew from the coalition government and their parliamentary group—all 42 members—abstained from the vote. Ex-President Battulga Khaltmaa, who is now a parliamentary member, had met with members of the DP but quickly left the building without showing his face as journalists chased him.  Mongolia’s current law requires support from a majority of all 126 members—at least 64 votes— for the Prime Minister to remain in office. “As the threshold was not met, the Prime Minister was deemed to have lost the vote of confidence and was therefore considered dismissed under the Constitution.”
On the day of the vote, 82 out of 126 parliamentary members participated in the vote. Of the 82 MPs who participated, 44 supported the resolution, equivalent to 53.6 percent while 38 voted against it. 
To the eyes of the hundreds of protestors, each day’s protest was an opportunity for Oyun-Erdene or the coalition government members to have a dialogue. What has happened in the last three weeks created tremendous opportunities for political elites to protect their interests. The disconnect of the political elites and politicians were so apparent and is abysmal.
First. The ‘Disconnect’ Element 
In the face of allegations of corruption and lavish lifestyle, the Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene should have spoken to the people. The first notable observation is how Oyun-Erdene responded to the protest. There was an obvious disconnect between the Prime Minister and what the people were demanding: transparency and accountability. This was clear from the beginning to the end. But the disconnect became more apparent when Oyun-Erdene did not respond in a timely manner. As the protest progressed days to weeks, the public got more suspicious. 
The missing element, or the disconnect on Oyun-Erdene’s part was he had neglected or disconnected from the fact that the public no longer trusts the anti-corruption authorities. This is a legitimate concern that many of Mongolia’s large corruption cases have not been solved. Hence, when the Prime Minister simply referred his corruption allegations to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the public wanted something more organic from him. Unfortunately, he failed to do that. 
Second. Political and Foreign Policy Element 
The second observation certainly had political elements, and it became more pronounced as days went by. 
When Oyun-Erdene spoke to several media representatives, his response was deeply political. He mentioned that some of his economic policies, for example, the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund might likely hurt mining conglomerate families. There is a legitimacy to his statement. The Sovereign Wealth Fund, although intended to establish a fund from nationally recognized strategic mining sites for future generations, to spend on education and healthcare, this move can also be attributed as a redistribution of wealth. Additionally, there is also a legitimate concern that because Mongolia’s corruption did not improve in the last couple of years, what guarantees for these funds will actually be allocated to the people?
Based on Oyun-Erdene’s argument, the Mongolian rich families (mostly mining) did not approve the establishment of such a fund to divide their net profit, either via taxation or profit-sharing. Oyun-Erdene later mentioned that even though parts of the protest was organic, the ousting of his government was a smear campaign that was planned months before the social media outbreak. By the second week, foreign media and journalists already arrived in Ulaanbaatar, expecting a resolution. But there were other political elements and shenanigans began to take place. 
The second political element was the suspicion of the Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa seeking a second term as President by making amendments to the constitution. The current law states that Mongolian President will serve one six-year term. But things got weird really quick. 
On June 12, an article was published in The Times, titled, Mongolian Prime Minister ‘Ousted by Putin Ally Smear Campaign.’ The article certainly raised some eyebrows in Mongolia and abroad, particularly in the international relations circle, which refrain from mixing domestic politics to foreign affairs. Indeed, Ulaanbaatar’s foreign policy has and still is independent of party politics. From international relations point of view, calling Khurelsukh a Putin ally just because of his military background and the fact that he attended the 80th anniversary of the end of Second World War seems like a cheap shot and also does not align with Mongolia’s multi-pillared foreign policy. To Mongolian foreign policy experts and international relations circle, this was a non-sense.  The whole point of Mongolia’s foreign policy principle is to avoid a bloc system, such as joining Putin or Xi’s bloc. 
Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh, furious about the article, made a statement on June 15. She stated that the article has in many ways misconstrued the political events that involved many young people seeking for a just society. She bashed the quotations and the citations of “government sources.” Battsetseg stated, “Damaging the country’s reputation in the name of protecting one’s own interests is indeed an act of treason.” 
Considering all these elements, it has been clear that Oyun-Erdene is not exiting quietly but there is also a power struggle within the party. He has made as much noise about Khurelsukh’s intention to ally with neighboring autocracies by seeking a second-term, and the coalition government, calling a coup. Despite the fact that the President himself denied such intention, now the Foreign Minister and other officials are backing Khurelsukh’s statements. Whether this suspicion or allegation will materialize, is in the hands of the legislative body of the Mongolian government. On May 18, the Press Office of the President stated that Khurelsukh will not be seeking a second term in the 2027 election.
Third. Economic Element 
While observers praise the democratic process and the active youth participation as a healthy functioning of a democratic society, on a governance level, an unstable executive branch signals unstable government and there are economic consequences. 
The fall of the coalition government and the transition process will cost tax-payers money. When a new government comes into executive power, their agendas and financial goals alter. In Zandanshatar’s case, one of his government’s goals is to limit government spending and reduce the number ministers. What this means is that if there was any work that had been started within a Ministry during Oyun-Erdene’s government, and that Ministry is dissolved, the work is likely to be stopped. 
From an economic and developmental point of view, despite the fall of the coalition government, the so-called the 14 mega-projects which included some major infrastructure deals with foreign partners, including the Erdeneburen hydro power plant, Siberia Power II, France-Mongolia uranium extraction projects will continue to be pursued. In some cases, these mega-projects change their names under a new administration. One of the Zandanshatar government’s goals will be to dissolve some state-owned enterprises. In any case, these mega-projects will indeed require political stability and a continued flow of massive amounts of foreign direct investment.
Recent developments in Mongolian politics highlight the strength of the country’s democracy, the active engagement of its youth, and the growing demand for transparency and accountability. In observing Mongolia’s political landscape for the last month, what the Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai failed to do during this period was to effectively communicate with the people. But the process which took place, starting with the organic youth protest, demanding financial transparency, a mobilization of diverse groups seeking accountability and responsibility shows nothing but a robust democratic process, and the citizens of Mongolia should be proud of such a democratic system.
BY Bolor Lkhaajav | Policy Consulstant, Op-Ed Contributor – Arctus Analytics

Published Date:2025-06-19