Election Watch: Mongolia
Source: International Republican Institute
What are the issues?
On October 11, Mongolians head to the polls for nationwide local elections. This latest round of elections, which follows the country’s June parliamentary elections, features more than 17,000 candidates competing for more than 8,000 seats across a vast expanse of territory roughly the size of western Europe. Available seats include sub-national, provincial, and soum (county) Citizen Representative Khural (local governing councils).
The two-week campaign period kicked off on September 26, and 15 political parties and one coalition are competing vigorously. Despite the wide variety of political parties competing, most of the political parties are only competing in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, while Mongolia’s two major political parties, the center-left Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) and center-right Democratic Party (DP), which have dominated local and rural politics over the last three decades, are running in constituencies across the country. Ulaanbaatar is home to half the country’s population, making the political parties’ agendas for addressing pressing issues in the city particularly impactful. The Democratic Party (DP), led by mayoral candidate T. Battsogt, is running under the slogan “City for Children” and is focusing on child-friendly urban development, addressing the housing crisis, improving employment, and promoting transparency in city governance. The DP is criticizing the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) for what it describes as the party’s mismanagement of the past eight years in the capital. In the eight local elections held since 1992, the DP has won only once, in 2012.
Read here the full article published by the International Republican Institute on 10 October 2024.
Image credits: International Republican Institute
What are the issues?
On October 11, Mongolians head to the polls for nationwide local elections. This latest round of elections, which follows the country’s June parliamentary elections, features more than 17,000 candidates competing for more than 8,000 seats across a vast expanse of territory roughly the size of western Europe. Available seats include sub-national, provincial, and soum (county) Citizen Representative Khural (local governing councils).
The two-week campaign period kicked off on September 26, and 15 political parties and one coalition are competing vigorously. Despite the wide variety of political parties competing, most of the political parties are only competing in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, while Mongolia’s two major political parties, the center-left Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) and center-right Democratic Party (DP), which have dominated local and rural politics over the last three decades, are running in constituencies across the country. Ulaanbaatar is home to half the country’s population, making the political parties’ agendas for addressing pressing issues in the city particularly impactful. The Democratic Party (DP), led by mayoral candidate T. Battsogt, is running under the slogan “City for Children” and is focusing on child-friendly urban development, addressing the housing crisis, improving employment, and promoting transparency in city governance. The DP is criticizing the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) for what it describes as the party’s mismanagement of the past eight years in the capital. In the eight local elections held since 1992, the DP has won only once, in 2012.
Read here the full article published by the International Republican Institute on 10 October 2024.
Image credits: International Republican Institute
