By Marissa J. Smith
In the past few days efforts have been underway in The State Great Khural to remove Prime Minister Zandanshatar (and his government) and Speaker of Parliament Amarbayasgalan. This follows Speaker of Parliament Amarbayasgalan’s ascension as MPP Chairman at the end of September. Prime Minister Zandanshatar had also contended for this role. His predecessor, L. Oyun-Erdene, was simultaneously PM and Party Chairman.
In this short post, I aim to explore potential legal bases of current efforts to unseat Zandanshatar (and that might be used to unseat Amarbayasgalan; the attempt from last week when signatures were gathered appears to have fizzled out for now at least). The current state of events as of October 15, 2025 is described in more detail in the latest The State Great Mural podcast episode here.
Removing a Prime Minister
According to The Law On The State Great Khural, Article 9, MPs may “propose the dismissal of the Prime Minister of Mongolia (hereinafter referred to as the “Prime Minister”) jointly with other members in accordance with Article 43, Part 1 of the Constitution of Mongolia” (8.1.11), i.e. if a majority of members support a proposal submitted by one-quarter of all members. According to news.mn, a third law stipulates that the Standing Committee on State Structure discuss and make recommendations before the final vote.
Removing A Speaker Of Parliament (Or An MP)
Additionally, according to The Law On The State Great Khural, Article 12, the Speaker may be removed if they are removed as an MP (according to Article 9), by a proposal submitted by a majority of MPs, or by the Constitutional Court. The removal is to be discussed by the Standing Committee on State Structure (Төрийн байгуулалтын байнгын хороо) and decided by an open vote. It is worth noting here that PM Zandanshatar is not an elected member of Parliament.
The Standing Committee On State Structure
The above mentioned article of the Constitution states:
“If at least one-fourth of the members of the State Great Khural formally submit a proposal to dismiss the Prime Minister, the State Great Khural shall begin deliberations within three days and make a decision within ten days. If a majority of all members of the State Great Khural support the proposal, the resolution of the State Great Khural on the dismissal of the Prime Minister shall be deemed adopted, and a new Prime Minister shall be appointed within thirty days.” (34.1)
A third law has been brought into play, The Law on the Rules of Procedure of the Session of the Parliament: “The Standing Committee on State Structure shall discuss the proposal to dismiss the Prime Minister at its session, issue opinions and conclusions, and present them to the plenary session” (101.2) before the final vote. A complete list of the 32 members of the Standing Committee on State Structure has been published by news.mn.
Zooming out, it is worth noting that, also according to The Law On The State Great Khural (Article 23), the jurisdiction of The Standing Committee on State Structure was expanded this past summer to include: “members’ declaration of assets and income,” “Order and maintenance of order in the session” and “Ethics, discipline and responsibility policy of civil servants.” (23.8.18-21) The law was also amended at this time to add subcommittees on Ethics and on the Immunity of Members of Parliament (27.3.3).