Mongolian People's Party

Mongolian People's Party Монгол Ардын Нам Mongol Ardiin Nam
General Secretary	Sükhbaataryn Batbold
Founded	March 1, 1921
Headquarters	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Membership  (2009)	147,300
Ideology	Third-way Social democracy Democratic socialism (formerly Communism, Marxism-Leninism)
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International (formerly Comintern)
Official colors	Red
State Great Khural	46 / 76
Website
http://www.nam.mn/
Politics of Mongolia Political parties Elections formerly known as the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party Монгол Ардын Хувьсгалт Нам (1924-2010)

The former logo of the "Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party"

The Mongolian People's Party (Mongolian: Монгол Ардын Нам, Mongol Ardiin Nam) formerly the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (Mongolian: Монгол Ардын Хувьсгалт Нам, Mongol Ardyn Khuvsgalt Nam, МАХН, MAKHN) is an ex-communist political party in Mongolia. The party is abbreviated MPP in English and МАН (MAN) in (transliterated) Mongolian. The party in 2010 reverted to its original name by dropping the word 'Revolutionary'^[1]

The MPRP was the ruling party of Mongolia from 1921 until 1996 (with no other political parties allowed until 1990), and from 2000 until 2004. Since 2006, it has been the leading force in two coalition governments. The incumbent prime minister, Sükhbaataryn Batbold, is from the MPP. Additionally, MPRP-backed candidates have won several presidential elections.

History

Communist era

Main article: Mongolian People's Republic

Dogsomyn Bodoo: one of the founders of the MPRP

The party was established on March 1, 1921, and is claimed to have been the first real political party in Mongolia. It was originally known simply as the Mongolian People's Party, but added the word "Revolutionary" at a conference in 1924. The organizational structure was modeled closely on that of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which the party followed closely.

The early days of the party were marked with considerable controversy, often related to Mongolia's relationship to the Soviet Union; eventually, the pro-Soviet faction was triumphant. Power struggles routinely turned violent: In the early 1920s, leaders and founding members of the party like Dogsomyn Bodoo, Dambyn Chagdarjav and Soliin Danzan were executed by rival factions. During the Stalinist phase under Khorloogiin Choibalsan in the late thirties, two prime ministers, Peljidiin Genden and Anandyn Amar were brought to the Soviet Union and executed there, while Demid allegedly died from food poisoning in a Russian train.

Choibalsan was followed by Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, who was Prime Minister of Mongolia for twenty-two years (the longest time served by any Prime Minister). Tsedenbal was considerably more moderate than Choibalsan, but his long reign and, towards the end, declining health led to comparisons with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

Multi Party Era

In the 1990s, Mongolia began to modernize its political system, implementing many of the reforms seen in the Soviet Union. The party won the democratic elections of 1990 and 1992,and remained in office until 1996, when the Mongolian Democratic Union won power.

Under the leadership of Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the party modernized its corrupted image and appeared to shed many of the legacies of communism. Today, the party portrays itself as a social democratic organization, and its leader claims to be an admirer of Britain's Tony Blair.^{[citation needed]} Based on this image and helped by the perceived failure of the Democratic Union government, the MPRP won a landslide victory in the 2000 elections.

Critics of the party, however, allege that its "reform" was illusionary, and that the party's success was the result of better public relations rather than any real change.^{[citation needed]} In particular, the party's critics have alleged that the People's Revolutionary Party sought to acquire and censor television and print media, and there were claims of opposition journalists being imprisoned.^{[citation needed]} There were also several high-profile cases on inflictions on international civil or human right norms by state authorities, like the abduction of D.Enkhbat from France^{[citation needed]}, the imprisonment of his lawyer L.Sanjaasuren^{[citation needed]}, and the detention of MP Lamjavyn Gündalai in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2003 the party has the status of a full membership in the Socialist International.

Elections of 2004

The elections of June 27, 2004, saw a major defeat for the People's Revolutionary Party, which lost a total of 35 seats (47% of what it had previously held), resulting in a close tie between the MPRP and the democratic coalition. After the election, both MPRP and the opposition accused each other of irregularities. In the end, re-elections were done in a small number of constituencies. Nonetheless, both sides agreed on a power-sharing agreement in August 2004. As part of the terms of the power-sharing agreement, the MPRP would regain the Prime Ministership in August 2006 after a term in office by Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party.

Government change of 2006

In January 2006, the MPRP decided to withdraw from the coalition, and its ten ministers resigned. This meant that more than half of the minister positions were vacant, so the parliament had no choice but to dissolve the government, removing Elbegdorj from power. The MPRP felt strong enough for this step because a DP member in parliament had switched to the MPRP a few days earlier, giving them exactly half the seats. The votes of four more DP members supporting the change (later to be rewarded with minister positions) resulted in an effective MPRP majority. In this configuration, and on nomination by president Enkhbayar, the parliament approved Miyeegombyn Enkhbold as the new prime minister on January 25, 2006.

The events triggered strong protests^{[citation needed]} from civic groups and their followers, camping on the central Sükhbaatar square in Ulan Bator for weeks, despite police efforts to drive them away. Pro-MPRP rallies were short lived in comparison, and some participants indicated that they had received money from MPRP to join^{[citation needed]}. Anti-MPRP protests flared up again in April 2006.^[2]

Individuals and organizations raised concerns that the government change might have been unconstitutional, but no specific violations could be shown. Also of interest was the time chosen. In November 2005, Customs Director General Kh. Baatar had been arrested on charges of corruption. As a result of his questioning, several high ranking MPRP members had come under suspicion as well, and were reported to have visited him in jail just a few days before ending the coalition.^[3] Opposition forces alleged that executing the government change just a few months before the date intended by the coalition agreement was instrumental in controlling the investigations in this case.

In a re-election in September 2006, the MPRP received another seat that had previously been held by a Democratic Party member.

Elections of 2008

Burnt remnants of the MPRP headquarters after the June 2008 elections

Mongolian legislative election held on June 29, 2008, caused riots in Mongolian capital after allegations of vote rigging and election fraud. A four-day state of emergency has been declared since July 2. In the evening of July 1, anti-MPRP protesters gathered in front of the MPRP headquarters, clashed with the police, and set the building on fire. Police used batons, water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets.^[4] Around midnight local time, President Nambaryn Enkhbayar declared a state of emergency to be in effect for the following four days.^[5] The Cultural Palace, north of the MPRP headquarters, was also set on fire.^[6] Five people were reported killed in the protests;^[7] all were civilians.

According to preliminary results published on June 30, 2008, the ruling MPRP won at least 41 seats, the main opposition DP won at least 25 seats, and at least one seat was won by an independent candidate.^[8] Other estimations give the MPRP 44 seats, the DP 21 seats, and three other parties one seat each, with eight seats remaining to be tallied.^[9]

Schism

In 2010 the MPRP took "Revolutionary" out of its name and rechristened itself the Mongolian People's Party.^[10] A few months later, in early 2011, former President and Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar, who had opposed the name change, was elected leader of a new Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.^[11]

List of Leaders

• Dambyn Chagdarjav 1921
• Dogsomyn Bodoo 1921-1922
• Jalkhanz Khutagt Sodnomyn Damdinbazar 1922-1923
• Balingiin Tserendorj 1923-1928
• Khorloogiin Choibalsan 1928-1952
• Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal 1952-1974
• Jambyn Batmönkh 1974-1984
• Dumaagiin Sodnom 1984-1990
• Sharavyn Gungaadorj 1990
• Dashiin Byambasüren 1990-1992
• Puntsagiin Jasrai 1992-1997
• Nambaryn Enkhbayar 1997-2005
• Sanjaagiin Bayar 2005-2010
• Sükhbaataryn Batbold 2010-present

See also

• Politics of Mongolia
• List of political parties in Mongolia

References

1. ^ Mongolia’s oldest party restores its original name, Business Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, 5 November 2010.Retrieved: 12 May 2011.
2. ^ "In Mongolia protest groups collide". Mongolia Web. April 12, 2006. http://www.mongolia-web.com/362-mongolia-protest-groups-collide. Retrieved April 21, 2006. 
3. ^ "Officials targeted for corruption". Mongolia-Web. 2005-11-02. http://www.mongolia-web.com/21-officials-targeted-corruption. Retrieved February 18, 2007. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Mongolia: President Enkhbayar Releases Statement. Mongolia Web News. 2008-07-01.
5. ^ Mongolia: MPRP building in flames, president declares emergency. Mongolia Web News. 2008-07-01.
6. ^ Mongolia Cultural palace in flames. Mongolia Web News. 2008-07-01.
7. ^ 5 killed in Mongolian unrest-government. Agence France-Presse. Inquirer.net, Philippine News for Filipinos. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
8. ^ Namjil, Ganbat. Mongolia ruling party wins election. Associated Press. 2008-06-30.
9. ^ Ex-communists 'win' Mongolia poll. Al Jazeera. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
10. ^ PM S.Batbold elected as the Leader of Mongolian People’s Party
11. ^ "Former Mongolian president named chairman of new party"

External links

• Official website