The Political System

In January 1992, the Mongolian legislature adopted a new Constitution, which came into force on 12 February 1992. The Constitution establishes Mongolia as a democratic republic. As a unitary state, Mongolia is divided into administrative units called aimags. As with other democratic market economies, the Mongolian political structure consists of legislative, executive and judicial branches of government with a president as the head of state.

The Legislature

The legislature arm of the Mongolian State is the State Great Hural or Parliament, which is composed of a single chamber consisting of 76 members. Citizens qualified to vote, elect the members of parliament for a period of four years. Qualifications for office require that candidates must be citizens of Mongolia and at least 25 years of age.

The Mongolian parliament has the power to enact legislation and has exclusive authority in a number of areas, including domestic and foreign policy. It sets the dates for the election of the President and Parliament, confirms the President in office, removes the President from office and appoints, replaces or removes the Prime Minister. Importantly, parliament also has the power to ratify or reject international agreements. The parliament also has authority over ‘strategic minerals’ including oil, gas and uranium. National laws must be disseminated through publication and enter into force 10 days after the date of publication.

The Presidency

One or more political parties represented in the Parliament nominate presidential candidates. Election is by simple majority and once elected, the President serves a term of four years and may be re-elected only once. Candidates must be over 45 years of age and Mongolian citizens who have resided in the country for at least five years prior to election. The President acts as head of state and as head of the national Security Council (which consists of the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament). The President has the power to veto Parliament’s decisions; however his veto may be overturned by a two-thirds majority vote of the Parliament. The President may also issue decrees that come into effect upon signature by the Prime Minister. The President nominates the candidate for Prime Minister in consultation with the major political party. A two-thirds majority of Parliament may remove the President for violation of the Constitution or an abuse of power in breach of the presidential oath. In June 2005, his Excellency Mr. Nambariin Enkhbayar was elected President of Mongolia.  Next election will be held in 2009.

The Government

The Government is the highest executive body of the state. Their term is four years beginning with the appointment of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the leader of the government and is accountable to parliament for its implementation of legislation. The government is also responsible for directing the country’s economic, social and cultural development. To do so, it can establish agencies (classified as either implementing agencies or regulatory ones) by adopting the rules and regulations these agencies propose. After the 2004 general elections, the government has established and Prime Minister works with Deputy Prime minister and 13 ministries.

The government is also empowered to protect the environment and to use and renew natural resources. It has the authority to regulate and approve the exploration for, and exploitation of, ‘strategic minerals’. The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2008. Government resolutions passed in meetings of the Cabinet are published monthly in the Bulletin of Government Resolutions, in the daily newspaper Century News and government website www.open-government.mn.

The Judiciary

The Mongolian Constitution also establishes a judicial function vested solely in the courts. The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court as the highest court with a number of appellate and district courts. The Supreme Courts has a number of powers including the right to try certain criminal cases and legal disputes, and to examine the decisions of lower courts through the appeals process. The Supreme Court also examines cases of human rights transferred to it by the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor-General and provides official interpretations of law, with the exception of the Constitution. The Constitution also allows for the formation of specialized courts such as criminal, civil and administrative courts that are not under the supervision of the Supreme Court. A general Council of Courts has also been established to ensure the independence of the judiciary. It has the exclusive power to select judges.