Mongolia Needs Vision and Accurate Policy for Recovering Economy, Says Deputy Speaker of Parliament

Trans. by B.DULGUUN

The following interview with Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Head of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP)M.Enkhbold covers timely issues in the Mongolian political world.

What kind of issues do you wish to discuss and resolve at the last meeting of the current Parliament?

It's not the time to talk about what kind of issue Parliament should discuss. It's the time to make a comprehensive evaluation of the past four years and look towards the future. We must now put an end to the crisis in the Mongolia society, economy and politics. Unless these crises are settled, it'll lead to default and Mongolia will have no choice but to announce bankruptcy. We must contemplate why the economy, which amazed the whole world with its incredibly fast growth only four years ago, has ended to its current state.

Whether it is its location, population or natural resources, Mongolia has advantages for developing a free market society. Yet, Mongolia is caught up in debt, the public is discontent, and the governance is facing a crisis. This is an unhealthy phenomenon. I'm not talking about these things as the head of the opposition party. Everyone can see that the society is facing challenges and adverse scenes. The state's operations have faced serious failures, the public has lost faith in the state, and the economy is in a very bad shape.

We have lost four whole years because of thoughtless politicians. I hope that the upcoming election will be conducted ethically and responsibly. In general, voters should change the way they look and evaluate politicians and change their voting criteria.

The MPP demanded to dismiss Speaker of Parliament Z.Enkhbold, Head of the Democratic Party. Some say that it's a political show. Is it important to dismiss the Speaker of Parliament when the election is due in less than two months?

Parliament is the state supreme body of Mongolia. The public elects members of Parliament as their representative. Our party can't accept a speaker who treats everything from the political perspective, mistreats or is rude to other MPs elected by the public and fulfills his role politically. Two months are a long time. There are many things we have to resolve without losing a single day. Yet, the Speaker of Parliament announced an irregular meeting to discuss the burial of nuclear waste.

I'm sure that the public is aware that [our party] took this measure because unreasonable and unforgivable mistakes have been made repeatedly. In...