ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT KHALTMAAGIIN BATTULGA AT THE OPENING OF THE FALL SESSION OF THE STATE GREAT KHURAL OF MONGOLIA
Members of the State Great Khural,
Speaker of the State Great Khural,
Prime Minister,
Distinguished guests,
People of Mongolia,
The opening of the Fall Session of the Parliament is marking the midpoint of the election cycle, where at least half of the works stated in your action plans and promises made to the constituents should have been already accomplished.
The Parliament chamber is not a place for making empty promises and sophistry, but should be a platform where tangible works are done and decisions are made to benefit the whole nation. The people, unfortunately, have been losing faith for the last 28 years because the words spoken and decisions made in this chamber have not been realized in life, and the lack of responsibility and diligence pervaded the government institutions. Although many criticisms, solutions, and suggestions have been deliberated from this chamber, they are not being implemented—or rather do not have grounds for implementation—the public service and law enforcement are debased; officials who were found guilty are slipping out of legal accountability; and the people are living in poverty despite the fact that the country is richly endowed with natural resources. The reason and the root of all these problems are coming down to only one conclusion: it is clear that Mongolia is suffering from a systemic crisis. The political and governance system that was formed in 1992 has fundamentally lost its ability to resolve and regulate the social challenges that Mongolia is currently facing.
The problem lies within the system itself, rather than due to a single individual or political party. Regardless of how good the person or the political party is, they become victims of the irresponsible, poorly coordinated, and unaccountable system, and an adverse condition is set where problems keep piling up and stress levels in the society keep rising. There are many facts and figures to prove this point, but it would be redundant to mention them all here. To name just a single example, I have suggested that the case of the “MNT 60 billion,” which was exposed two years ago, should have been openly discussed in the Parliament by delaying the Spring Session recess. I also reminded to the Parliament of the grounds to convene the Extraordinary Parliamentary Session have arisen and submitted a proposal to convene the Session. When two legal grounds to convene the Extraordinary Session have arisen—i.e., more than one third of the Members of the Parliament submitted the proposal and the President supported the proposal—the Speaker of the Parliament must fulfill his duty as stated in the Constitution of Mongolia and other relevant laws. But the Speaker did not act. The fact that the legislative body disregarded the law that was passed by itself is a clear and present example of a legal crisis.
Unless we find the solution to overcome the deadlock and crisis in the governance system and identify our collective social goals anew, we cannot resolve any issue in the future. The current system has already and completely exhausted its capabilities and opportunities.
I have decided to share with you, the Members of the Parliament, constituents, and the people of Mongolia, proposal and solutions to overcome this systemic crisis, which are the result of my careful consideration and talks with various politicians and political science researchers after being elected as the President.
Unless the system is changed, nothing will change. To use an analogy, when the foundation and pillars of the house that we built together have developed faults and face a risk of collapsing, we have been making superficial changes instead of tearing it down and constructing new foundations and firm pillars. But the crisis has come to a point where it cannot be dodged and evaded. The house is already on the verge of collapsing.
I request all of you to be patient and assess the issue with a rational mind instead of suspecting or rushing to conclusions. The key is to build a stable system that can organize, arrange, and facilitate a government that is capable of resolving the problems that have been accumulated and fulfills its duty to lead and manage the society well so that the people would be employed, healthy, educated, satisfied with their lives, and happy.
The Government of Mongolia is facing a full-front accountability crisis. It has been defined that “accountability is the ability of decision-makers to respond and to solve issues.” Responsibility is the ability of the government to respond and find solutions when the people point at the “things that are not working.” But it is ever clearer that the institutions that must be accountable and look after the social system, including the Parliament and the Cabinet, are in an accountability crisis themselves. The poor state of the economy and widespread poverty and income inequality are indelible signs of bad governance.
According to polls conducted from September 26-29 of this year, the level of the people’s trust in the Parliament is 3.3 points and in the Government 4.5 points out of 10. The people’s trust in their Government has fundamentally faded. The fact that government institutions have been rated average and below-average is an indicator that we are going through a trust crisis.
All social classes, political groups, and researchers have reached a common understanding that the governance system has to undergo a drastic change that is suited for the developmental needs and social requirements of Mongolia. This can be accomplished only through the constitution.
According to the Information on Governance and Legal System, Electoral Form of Countries Similar to Mongolia research paper published by the Research Division of Secretariat of the Parliament of Mongolia in 2015, we, Mongolians, adopted with the 1992 Constitution an uncommon semi-presidential and semi-parliamentary governance system that was institutionalized by only four countries—Bulgaria, Finland, Serbia, and Montenegro—out of 196 countries. We see and know today that it led us down the path of developmental stalemate. The democratic new constitution served as an important mechanism in facilitating the transition from one social system to another. But now, we need to amend the Constitution in accordance with the developmental needs and social requirements. Now is the time to thank the current Constitution and those who drafted it and move on to the discussion of the next version of the Constitution.
Members of Parliament,
If we altogether do not bring about a reform, drastic change that encompasses the entire system, the promises you made during election will not be accomplished, the economy will see no growth, and the Government of Mongolia will remain feeble, irresponsible, cumbersome, squandering, and the public service will be a sidekick of political parties. Unless the reform is achieved immediately, a small group of people will continue to hold control over natural resources, and revenues from natural resources will continue to flow out of the country without benefiting the public.
Therefore, in the interest of the future of our country and to build a prosperous and powerful Mongolia, I urge you to make a systemic reform through collective judgment and rational discussion with the political parties, academics and researchers, and your constituents.
First of all, with active discussion and involvement of all people, let us adopt a new Constitution, which reflects our present and future goals and needs of society. This is the most important issue that we have to resolve.
Our new Constitution shall:
- Dissolve monopoly power of a few group of people that are controlling politics, economy, and wealth distribution of Mongolia, and reform into a fair system of optimal allocation of power of governance that is democratic, transparent, balanced, mutually accountable, and meets the demands and expectations of the public.
- Establish a system where the exploitation and distribution of natural and social resources are transparent and fair, overseen by the public, and tied with accountability.
- Prioritize the national interest of Mongolia above all, completely cease entering international treaties and agreements that contradict our national interest, and include provisions for accountability.
- Reform judicial and law enforcement organizations which should serve the citizens and not those in power, comply with the law, have a clear responsibility, and enjoy proper judicial power.
- Revise the Law on Political Parties, define the boundaries between the involvement of the government and political parties in economic and social life, and separate political parties’ policies and politicization from government
- Include an accountability mechanism that specifies the means to truly implement and not just declare the government’s duty to ensure the conditions for the Mongolian people to be the true rulers of the society, to live in healthy and safe environment, to acquire education, and to be employed.
A reform will be more vibrant and practical if it is based on mutual understanding and support of the government and people. After experiencing a systemic crisis just like our nation, Georgia was able to reach major socio-economic growth as a result of intense reform between 2004-2012 thanks to the the understanding between the Government and the people. The people are the first to benefit from a state reform. The GDP of Georgia was USD 970 per capita in 2003, and the number increased by four times and reached USD 4,130 by 2012. The country was ranked 136th in the list of World Corruption Index, but in 2012, it moved up by 100 places and ranked 35th. Georgia also ranked 100th in the Ease of Doing Business Index, but it became one of the the top eight countries after the reform. Doing business is a key indicator for improving the sustainable livelihoods of people. It is astonishing that the number of international tourists increased by 1,249 percent in Georgia. The number of tourists is directly related to the development and good governance of the country. It is natural that tourists would be less interested in visiting unsafe and poorly developed countries. The most important aspect of the Georgian reform is that the people’s trust in legal institutions increased to 70 percent from only five percent and it has not gone below this level. It is an indication that a just system steers the governance properly.
I call upon the politicians and the people. I ask you to join all together in this act, a responsible and inevitable act to build a rational, well-arranged, transparent, and beneficial to the people political system. The winners of the reform will be the people, and the losers will be the oligarchs who enriched themselves with public funds. We should be able to accomplish what others have accomplished. Societies that succeeded in reflecting the changes made during the development process and made instant reforms manage to accomplish their goals. We must creatively learn from the examples of other nations that overcame their social challenges.
Putting an end to the power-seeking and pedestrian arguments, and instantly starting the bold systemic reform shall fully comply with the core interest of Mongolia and the people of Mongolia.
As the official responsible for ensuring the national unity under the Constitution, I, as the President, express my commitment to providing full support to the political reform to establish a fair government. The reason is, in the long-run, unity of the people of Mongolia will be ensured by fair government, fully-enforced law, and the prosperous life of our people.
Mongolians can make a difference together. We only need to unite and cooperate.
Dear Members, prepare for the drastic reform, amend the Constitution in line with the interests of people, and let them discuss and support you. Failure to do it will be considered as evasion from a historic responsibility. If the narrow interests of political parties and groups interfere with the systemic reform, it will be a sin, a crime equivalent to betrayal of the national interest. The time is forcing a drastic reform on us. Recognize this as a historic responsibility in front of our people.
Thank you for the attention. Wish you all the best of luck.
May Mongolia flourish under the power of the Eternal Sky.
