Ulan Bator, June 3 (IANS) Mongolia’s Parliament Speaker D Amarbayasgalan said on Tuesday that since the State Great Khural (Parliament), did not pass the draft resolution on the vote of confidence in the Prime Minister, then Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene was deemed to have resigned.
Oyun-Erdene convened a regular meeting of the government on May 28 and submitted the draft resolution on the vote of confidence in the Prime Minister to the State Great Khural.
The Mongolian Constitution stipulates that if the draft resolution is not passed, the Prime Minister is deemed to have resigned and a new one will be appointed within 30 days, Xinhua news agency reported.
Oyun-Erdene has served as the Prime Minister of Mongolia since January 2021. He was re-elected in July 2024.
“It was a privilege to serve my country and people through challenging times, including pandemics, wars, and trade conflicts,” Oyun-Erdene said following the vote.
He was forced to step down after failing to secure a parliamentary majority — falling short of the 64 votes needed in the 126-seat legislature. Out of 82 lawmakers who participated in the secret ballot, 44 supported him while 38 voted against.
In the two weeks leading up to the vote, hundreds of demonstrators — many of them young — had taken to the streets demanding his resignation.
Their discontent largely stemmed from perceptions of excessive wealth and privilege surrounding Oyun-Erdene’s family, particularly his son. A lavish wedding proposal by his son, along with images of expensive designer items, circulated widely on social media, raising questions about the origins of the family’s wealth.
Oyun-Erdene denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as part of a politically-motivated smear campaign.
Transparency International, an anti-corruption watchdog, reported a decline in Mongolia’s transparency ranking during his tenure. In 2024, the country was placed 114th out of 180 nations in its Corruption Perceptions Index.
Mongolia, a former Communist state located between Russia and China, has been navigating a democratic transition since the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Corruption remains a longstanding issue. In 2024, US prosecutors moved to seize two New York apartments allegedly purchased with illicit mining funds by former Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold, who held office from 2012 to 2015. Batbold denied the allegations.
In recent years, Mongolia has pursued stronger ties with Western nations as part of its “third neighbour” strategy, alongside maintaining relations with its powerful neighbours.
During his time in office, Oyun-Erdene championed major infrastructure and resource development efforts in the mineral-rich country, outlining 14 large-scale projects, including mineral processing hubs, water diversion systems, dams, and power plants.
–IANS
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