Corrupt anti-democratic forces launched stealth attack on free and fair June presidential election

Ulaanbaatar, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa issued an emergency directive to disband the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), in order to safeguard the sovereignty and democracy of the country. The action came after the MPP gave itself unconstitutional authority to change election rules for the June 9 presidential election that would exclude President Battulga from the ballot.

In his announcement, President Battulga said the “MPP threatens the country's democratic foundations by creating a parallel military structure alongside its party. This endangers the fundamental rights and interests of our citizens and constitution. The law explicitly states that any political party that takes any militarized form shall be disbanded.”

MPP Forms “Military Union”

Former Prime Minister, and current MPP Chairman, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, has created a parallel military structure alongside the Party called the “Mongolian Military Union” and has arranged for the organization to have a branch at each Military Staff of local administrations leading to growing concerns the Party is at risk of and preparing to execute military actions.

Bold Luvsanvandan, former Minister of Defense and current Advisor to the President on National Security, made the following statement:

“MPP’s parallel militarized structure headed by MPP Chairman Khurelsukh Ukhnaa is a blatant violation of Mongolia’s Constitution. The military union should be immediately disbanded and banned. Not only will it undermine the civilian oversight over the Mongolian military, but will lead to the creation of quasi-fascist regime.”

Leader of Mongolia’s Anti-Democratic Forces

The effort to rig the June 9 elections is led by former Prime Minister Batbold Sukhbaatar of the MPP, which ruled Mongolia under a Communist dictatorship until the 1990 democratic revolution and is now attempting to seize power, once again, and reinstall one-party rule. This stealth attack on the country’s institutions follows active efforts by the MPP to subvert the Constitutional Court, deter the functioning of the National Security Council, rubber-stamp the rigging of the June 9 elections and protect Batbold from prosecution for corruption. Batbold, was recently charged with receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from kickbacks and fraudulent and illegal transactions in deals involving the nation’s two largest mines. The investigation was launched by the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office and Independent Authority Against Corruption of Mongolia that now spans in five jurisdictions from the U.K., Hong Kong, BVI, Singapore and the United States.

Uyanga Gantumur, former Member of Parliament and a member of the Democratic Party, made the following statement:

“President Battulga has sworn to defend the Constitution, sovereignty and democracy of Mongolia. The decision to dissolve the MPP was not easy, but necessary, to protect the country from the anti-democratic forces organized by former Prime Minister Batbold Sukhbaatar and their foreign collaborators. President Battulga urges public officers to honor the Constitution and comply with the laws when executing their jobs, and pledged to defend free and fair elections in the face of MPP actions to prevent them.” 

President Battulga and the Democratic Party

Battulga Khaltmaa became the fifth President of Mongolia on July 10, 2017. Before this, President Battulga served for almost two decades as a Member of Parliament in the State Great Khural and held cabinet positions as the Minister of Roads, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development and later as the Minister of Industry and Agriculture. He was one of the leaders of the Democratic Union Coalition, which later became the foundation of the modern day Democratic Party of Mongolia. The Democratic Union Coalition was instrumental in ushering a peaceful democratic transition to a multi-party democratic system in Mongolia after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990.

For the original news story, please visit https://www.prdistribution.com/news/mongolian-president-takes-emergency-action-to-protect-sovereignty-and-democracy.html

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• Khaltmaagiin Battulga - Mongolian President

Media Company: Office of the President of Mongolia, Media Name: Presidential Media Department, Media Phone: +976 51 265003, Media Email: press@president.mn, Media URL: https://president.mn/