Mongolia's former communists met yesterday to discuss who should become the next prime minister after the central Asian country was thrown into disarray with the ouster of reform-minded Tsakhia Elbegdorj.
About 250 members of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gathered in central Ulan Bator to choose a candidate to lead the impoverished, landlocked nation, a party official said.
"They will discuss whom to nominate as the next prime minister," the official said, a leading member of the party's youth organization. He said the talks began shortly before 4pm.
The most likely choice was MPRP chairman Miyegombo Enkhbold, a former mayor of the capital, where nearly half the country's 2.5 million people live, several observers said.
"He's a good man. He's got good organizational skills and very important experience," said MPRP member Kulalsuk as he arrived for the meeting at party headquarters.
Mongolia's political system was thrown into upheaval after lengthy parliamentary debates late on Friday culminated in a vote approving the resignation of 10 Cabinet members, all from the MPRP.
With just eight cabinet members remaining, this effectively sealed the ouster of Elbegdorj, whose Democratic Party advocates liberal market reform in Mongolia.
The political constellation was such that a new government was all but certain to be formed by the MPRP with the support of smaller parties.
"This is the right time to start in our own direction," said Sansar Jiimen, a 30-year-old software engineer and a member of the MPRP's youth organization.
"We will pay more attention to social issues and look after poor people," he said.
The decision to topple the government "has immediately created a dangerous situation in our country," Elbegdorj said early yesterday, just moments after the parliamentary vote had reduced him to acting prime minister.
"I think this is short-sighted, and a wrong move by the Mongolian Communists," said Elbegdorj, a Harvard graduate.
The MPRP and the Democrats have co-ruled since 2004, when they were forced into an uneasy coalition after an election that divided the parliamentary seats almost evenly between the two.
In an agreement between the sides, Elbegdorj was handed the prime minister's office in exchange for giving the MPRP 10 of the 18 cabinet seats.
Elbegdorj was only to have held the premiership until this autumn, at which time it would have been taken over by the MPRP, according to observers.
"Everyone asks the question why they couldn't wait for these few months," Elbegdorj said. "My theory is that they felt threatened by my plans to pursue action for combating corruption."
Sanjaasuren Oyun, the leader of the Civil Will Party, said it was a wrong move to oust the government.
"Although the coalition couldn't do the reforms very fast, they had an ambitious reform-minded platform," she said.
"Slowly, they were moving forward with tax reform, with election reform," she added.
Mongolia, most famous for its past under fearless warlord Genghis Khan, has been praised as one of the few central Asian states to have enjoyed a relatively stable democracy following the fall of the Soviet Union.
It has also been an ally of the US, and sent a small but symbolically significant military deployment to help the US-led forces in Iraq.
The MPRP enjoyed nearly 70 years of single-party rule when Mongolia was a Soviet satellite, and has maintained significant clout since democracy was introduced in the early 1990s.
It won 72 of the 76 parliamentary seats in 2000 but was forced into the latest coalition after an electoral backlash to its dominance at the 2004 polls.
With support for Elbegdorj's Democratic Party falling to just 26 seats following the break up of its own "Democratic Coalition" last year, the MPRP decided to take full control.
"The democrats believe the 2004 vote was rigged and think they should have won the election," said a foreign observer in Ulan Bator. "So now they think they've lost twice, and they're angry."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique