Dp Brings Out Its Hidden Hand

Trans. by B.DULGUUN

Procedures of the three months prior to the election may be modified, as Deputy Head of the Democratic Party (DP) Sh.Tuvdendorj has initiated amendments to the Election Law and Parliament's resolution on the establishment of electoral districts, district nominations, territory, and election centers.

Cabinet members reviewed the resolution during last Monday's regular government meeting and announced that they didn't have special recommendations for the draft.

Sh.Tuvdendorj explained his reasons for initiating the draft amendment. "Many people have complained that the transfer of provincial nominations to the capital conflicts with the views of administrative units, but Parliament didn't take note of this issue. It's possible to balance the representation of voters by making amendments to the Constitution, increasing the number of members of Parliament, and enabling the transfer of nominations from party list nomination to the capital," he said, and added that a draft of his amendments will be submitted to Parliament shortly.

Party list nominations will be reduced from 28 to 22, and a nomination will be added for six districts in the capital according to Sh.Tuvdendorj's draft. Passing these amendments would change Mongolia's electoral system to a mixed system, but with a 54:22 counting process.

Spectators are deciding who the new system will benefit the most. They say that precisely because of profitability, MPs and ministers overlooked some provisions in the Election Law revised before the new year, specifying the approval of amendments to the Election Law six months before the election.

During the discussion of changes to the Election Law, the DP supported Head of City Council D.Battulga's initiative to reduce the number of provincial nominees and increase nominations from the capital, but the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) disagreed. Arguments from both parties had reasonable grounds. The DP supported the increase of capital nominees in consideration of a considerably low number of residents in each soum. The MPP opposed, saying that provincial areas will become desolate and neglected if provincial districts are reduced. But as the politicians debated, both parties protected their own interests and made political decisions. Had the original draft of the amendment been approved, eight provincial districts from Uvs, Tuv, Zavkhan, Govi-Altai, Dornod and Khentii Provinces would have had to share one nominee, but the old...