| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Ulsyn Ikh Khural / State Great Hural |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
29 June 2008 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the State Great Hural on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The June 2008 elections were the fifth to be held since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990.
In May 2005
the country elected the then Speaker Nambar Enkhbayar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) as the new President. The formerly communist MPRP
which had ruled the country since independence from China in 1921
had regained power in 2000 after four years of rule by the Motherland-Democracy Coalition (MDC).
In the last parliamentary elections
held in June 2004
the number of MPRP seats had dropped from 72 to 37. An ally
the Republican Party (MRP)
took one seat. The MDC (comprising the Democratic Party (DP) and two small parties
see note) obtained 35 seats. The three remaining seats went to independents allied with the MDC. The MPRP and MDC camps
which held the same number of seats in parliament
subsequently formed a first-ever coalition government
with the DP's Mr. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj elected as Prime Minister in August. The coalition government remained fragile and divided
however
as witnessed when the MPRP sought to expand the civil service
which the MDC saw as an increased burden on taxpayers.
In late 2005
DP Deputy Chairman Mr. Lamjavyn Gündalai left the DP and formed the People's Party (PP)
blaming Prime Minister Elbegdorj for slow economic growth. In January 2006
four other DP members defected to the MPRP camp
and the MPRP withdrew its support for the coalition government. On 25 January
MPRP Chairman Mr. Miyeegombyn Enkhbold was elected as the new Prime Minister and formed a MPRP-led 'national solidarity' government that included the DP dissidents. In November 2007
following his defeat in the MPRP's chairmanship election to Mr. Sanj Bayar the previous month
Mr. Enkhbold resigned. Mr. Bayar was elected as Prime Minister in late November
pledging to "uproot corruption and bureaucracy".
The elections were contested by 12 political parties
including the MPRP and the DP. Prior to the 2008 elections
the MPRP government was dogged by allegations of official corruption and misconduct. In May
Mr. Gündalai left the PP and re-joined the DP and most PP members ran under the DP banner.
With more than 10 per cent of Mongolia's 2.7 million inhabitants living on less than one US dollar per day
according to figures from the United Nations
modernizing the country's agriculture-based economy has been a top priority.
Prime Minister Bayar's MPRP promised greater prosperity through 10 per cent economic growth and boosting GDP per capita to US$5
000 by 2012 (from US$2
900 in 2007). The MPRP also promised to improve the welfare system and provide subsidies to families
single mothers and the poor. In April
on the occasion of its 18th anniversary
the DP published a ten-article development policy document
pledging to work for human development and tackle poverty and corruption.
A key debate in the run-up to the 2008 elections was how to make the best use of recently discovered mineral deposits in the country
including copper
gold and coal. The MPRP advocated maintaining government control over these resources
while the DP called for private sector involvement. Both parties promised to use budget surpluses from the mining industry to pay for public expenditures. Under the current law
the government can take up to a 50 percent interest in mineral deposits discovered using State funds.
During the election campaign
the General Election Committee admitted that the electoral roll contained over 116
000 people listed twice under different addresses
and pledged to clean up the roll before polling day.
On the day of the election
over 74 percent of some 1.6 million registered voters turned out at the polls
with no major incidents reported. A 16-member international observer panel declared the elections largely free and fair.
As a result of the newly introduced multi-member constituency system
final results were delayed. But after preliminary results gave 47 seats to the MPRP and 27 to the DP
the former declared victory.
The DP accused the MPRP of rigging the elections and claimed that some MPRP supporters voted twice. Large-scale street protests turned violent: MPRP headquarters were set on fire
at least five people were killed and hundreds injured. Prime Minister Bayar accused the DP of inciting the violence. On 1 July
President Enkhbayar declared a four-day state of emergency in the capital
allowing the police to use "necessary force to crack down on criminals". The DP called for a re-vote in several districts.
Prior to the first session of the State Great Hural on 23 July
the election of 66 members (39 from the MPRP
25 from the DP
one Civil Will Republican Party member and one independent) had been confirmed. However
due to a boycott by the DP
parliament failed four times to reach the quorum of two thirds of members required to swear in the new members. Parliament was finally able to resume its work on 28 August after the quorum was achieved. On 1 September
Mr. Damdin Demberel (MPRP) was elected as the new Speaker.
On 11 September
the State Great Hural elected Mr. Bayar (MPRP) as Prime Minister. On 17 September
it approved a new coalition government comprising the MPRP and the DP.
Note:
The two parties were the Mongolian New Democratic Socialist Party (MNDSP) and the Civil Will Republican Party (CWRP). |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 29 June 2008 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
1'534'074
1'139'984 (74.31%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) |
|
914'037 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party (DP) |
|
701'641 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Civil Will Republican Party (CWRP) |
|
34'319 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
|
60'320 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Green Party |
|
24'806 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) |
45
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party (DP) |
28
|
|
|
|
|
| Civil Will Republican Party (CWRP) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Green Party |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
73
3
3.95%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
10
41
23
1
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Economist |
20 |
| Architect
surveyor
engineer |
18 |
| Legal profession |
13 |
| Education profession |
7 |
| Research/sciences |
7 |
| Journalism
broadcasting
media |
3 |
| Physician
dentist |
2 |
| Agriculture/farming |
1 |
| Armed services/Police |
1 |
| Writer
literary
artist |
1 |
| Civil service and local authority administration |
1 |
| Trade union official |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- State Great Hural (23.07.2008
05.09.2008
29.09.2008
31.10.2008
09.12.2008
20.01.2009
06.03.2009
29.10.2009
26.02.2010)
- http://www.gec.gov.mn
- http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
