Whistleblowing Culture

It has been exactly 70 years since Winston Churchill stated, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Meanwhile, Mongolians have now been experimenting with democracy for 26 years. Today, the benefits of democracy are mostly enjoyed by a small number of people in the government, rather than the people.

While democracy is based on a representative system in its early stages, it later transitions into a democracy focused on civic engagement. Mongolians seem to have the perception that electing their government representatives means all issues will be resolved. However, these supposed representatives of the people are now changing the structure of the government, not by the wishes of the people, but for their own advantage. They have been stealing so much from public funds that they have now embezzled from the future income of our country.

From the beginning of their tenure, we the people should have carefully assessed whether or not the people we elected were delivering on their duties, and we should have made interventions if things were not going well. Instead, what we have done is wait for the next election so we can vote for a different political party. Mongolians are coming to their senses only now, and have realized how much time and opportunity has been lost on our path to development. As a society, we have increasingly been discussing how to fix the situation we are in today, and what should be changed and improved.

What we know, and stand firmly for, is that our first and foremost priority is to get rid of the corruption deeply seated in the government. In order to combat corruption, we need to build a new culture in all government organizations. This new culture must allow and encourage everyone to report internally and externally how corruption is harming public interests.

Whistleblowing" is the term that represents what the new culture should embrace. This refers to revealing information and exposing wrongdoings, including those that compromise the public's wellbeing.

A MEASUREMENT FOR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Every citizen has the responsibility to speak out and act against any illegal action or wrongdoing, regardless of whether or not they are working for a government agency or the private sector. Rectifications can only be made when there are facts and evidence to prove a crime has been committed.

Because Mongolia is unable to stop corruption, our economy...