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Liberty Center, a Mongolian NGO

Date: August 3, 2004

 

MONGOLIA:  General Election Committee Exercises Unconstitutional Power in favor of the MRPR

 

One of  the earliest decisions of the newly established Capital City Administrative Court is annulled  not by a higher Court, but by the General Election Committee, an administrative organ functioning under the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia. Although the Mongolian Constitution prohibits the exercise of judicial power by any other organization but courts, the General Election Committee particularly exercised unlawful judicial power by its meeting held on August 2, 2004.  The result of the meeting was to order that re-voting is to occur in a rural part of 24^th parliamentary constituency where a candidate from the Motherland-Democratic Coalition had won by the tight margin of 51 votes in the June 27 election.

 

“We have received the decision of the Capital City Administrative Court which had annulled the decision of the central election organ groundlessly and using no evidence” criticized  Mr.Yadamsuren, the chairman of the General Election Committee and a member of the MPRP, referring to the July 09 decision of the Administrative Court issued as a result of a two-day extensive hearing process. According to Daily News, during the August 02 meeting some members of the General Election Committee attacked aggressively toward the members of the election committee of 24^th Constituency, who came to report how voting had happened. During this meeting rural committee members were demanded to give 'the right information” against the one their gave it to the hearing of the Administrative Court.

 

“It is a violation of the Constitution in the very hall of the Constitutional Court” wrote Munkhbayasgalan from Daily News.  “I think the General Election Commission is not aware of its power, it is an evidently unlawful process to re-examine a court decision by an administrative organ” said Mr.Enkhbold, the democratic candidate and winner of the election, in his interview to Daily News.

 

The newly elected Mongolian Parliament started its work last week with two members missing. Two winner-candidates from Motherland-Democratic Coalition are challenged by their opponents from the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party.

 

“Voters of the 24^th Constituency where the dispute is arising have been always voting for the MPRP with 70-90%. Suddenly the voters changed their mind this year and Z.Enkhbold gained the majority vote. It is because we just fed up from one party candidate in our constituency” said an anonymous herder and a member of the MPRP. “We are almost all from the MPRP, there was even no operating cell of the Democratic party in our bag. But now we are under pressure of the party and even bribes of $25-$200 offered to us.” (bag is the lowest administrative unit)

 

Herders from Tuya bag of Taragt soum (24^th Consituency) were allegedly asked by Mr.Sugar himself, the MPRP candidate, if they could vote for him in favor of “the party” in case the re-voting occurs.

 

Liberty Center is deeply concerned that free and democratic choice made by the Mongolian voters on June 27,2004 is under threat. Obvious misuse of power if going on because two still missing seats of the Parliament will decide the fate of the future ruling force as both the MPRP and the Motherland Democratic Coalition need exactly two seats in order to form government.