Who Should You Vote For?

By B.KHASH-ERDENE

First of all, I hope our readers had a very festive Tsagaan Sar. Now that all the hustle and bustle of Tsagaan Sar is over, the public's attention will surely shift back to the upcoming elections.

Political parties are preparing for the elections by forming alliances and merging. Before Tsagaan Sar, the Democratic Party, led by the Speaker of Parliament Z.Enkhbold, joined with the Civil Will Green Party and Mongolian National Democratic Party. On February 9, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, led by former President N.Enkhbayar, signed a cooperation agreement with the Mongolian Green Party, meaning that they will run as one party in the parliamentary, provincial and capital city council elections.

Before Tsagaan Sar, there were rumors that the Mongolian People's Party, the main opposition in Parliament with 26 seats, would join with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The two parties have a connected history, but disputes among the parties' younger generation have prevented the merger.

Head of the Mongolian People's Party and Deputy Speaker of Parliament M.Enkhbold said, "The merging of the two parties isn't decided by N.Enkhbayar and M.Enkhbold alone." Plus, MP of the Mongolian People's Party Ts.Nyamdorj is an outspoken antagonist of N.Enkhbayar's party, once calling the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party a "shalbaag" (puddle).

Therefore, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party has decided to join hands with the less prominent Green Party. This is not the first time the party has joined forces with other political parties to win seats in Parliament. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party joined with the Mongolian National Democratic Party in the 2012 parliamentary election to win 11 seats.

No doubt that N.Enkhbayar and O.Bum-Yalagch, the head of the Green Party, hope to win the same number of seats in Parliament in the upcoming election, but many are skeptical of whether the parties can muster up enough supporters and candidates to compete against the Democratic Party and Mongolian People's Party.

The one advantage the alliance with the Green Party has given the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party is that they no longer have to scramble to get a better place on the ballot for its candidates, as the Green Party is the third registered party of Mongolia.

The fact that the Mongolian People's Party is not interested in joining forces with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party is viewed by...