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Category Archives: Politics
Podcast: 77Nation
On Dec 11 2020, I appeared on the 77Nation podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Mongolian politics with L Bolor, E Enkhtamir, and B Geser.
Democratic Convulsions
By Julian Dierkes Two ongoing convulsions of democracy are having me reflect on Mongolia, elections, and political system challenges: the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan According to Katie Putz, one of the choices that is coming out of the revolutionary upheavals … Continue reading
2020 Local Elections
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan and Julian Dierkes The local elections usually do not get much attention from international journalists, Mongolia-watchers, and even in-country diplomats. However, local elections at the capital city/aimag and district/soum level have several important implications for the country’s … Continue reading
Geopolitics of Mongolia Podcast
Julian Dierkes recently spoke to Michael Hilliard about Mongolia’s foreign relations in an extended show of The Red Line Podcast focused on geopolitics.
Friends in Defence of Democracy?
By Julian Dierkes Throughout the past 30 years of democratic foreign policy, Mongolia has been a multi-lateral joiner, i.e. eager to participate in international initiatives that raise its profile, in particular aimed at deepening relationships with “Third Neighbours”. Now, there … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., UN
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Current and Previous Mongolian Presidents Weigh In on Mongolian Language Education
By Marissa J. Smith Since Julian’s post on the unfolding events around China’s cancellation of Mongolian-medium education, the current Mongolian president, Kh. Battulga, and his predecessor, Ts. Elbegdorj, have released statements. As a brief update on the situation, Southern Mongolian … Continue reading
Covering Election: Looking Back
By Julian Dierkes As we wrote in May, this was the first election since the existence of Mongolia Focus that none of our regular writers were in-country. Our “coverage” of the election was thus a bit different. Why Cover the … Continue reading
Ministers in Khurelsukh’s Cabinet
By Julian Dierkes, Marissa Smith and Bulgan Batdorj Byambajav has already provided a brief introduction to the 16 ministers who have been appointed to PM Khurelsukhs post-2020-election cabinet. Since a number of them are not MPs and have not been … Continue reading
Cabinet Observations
By Julian Dierkes [I had begun writing this post on July 3, i.e. just before PM Khurelsukh’s cabinet was announced. While the speculation about appointments has been overtaken by that announcement, perhaps some of the thinking behind cabinet appointments will … Continue reading
Posted in Constitution, Government, Politics, Public Policy, Public Service
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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A Renewed Khurelsukh Cabinet
By Byambajav Dalaibuyan Under the recent constitutional amendments, the Prime Minister has the power to appoint and dismiss cabinet ministers. Previously, the parliament had lengthy sessions to discuss candidates proposed by the Prime Minister one by one and voted on … Continue reading
Posted in Government, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party
Tagged BYAMBAJAV Dalaibuyan
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Guest Post: A Flawed Electoral System?
By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein Already a day after the elections some independent candidates began to call for a recounting of the ballots. In the following days, smaller parties and parts of the DP joined these demands. But irrespective … Continue reading
Guest Post: The 2020 Election and the Online News
By Judith Nordby Did online news sites reflect voters’ concerns and their opinions of the candidates in the recent election? This I asked myself while consulting Mongolian language sites – written by Mongolians for Mongolians. Ikon.mn, news.mn, sonin.mn and dnn.mn … Continue reading
Posted in Ikh Khural 2020, Judith Nordby, Law, Media and Press, Social Media
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Election Analyses Panel, June 29
Mongolians voted on June 24. The Mongolian People’s Party won a resounding victory with 62 of 76 seats. We’ll analyze these results, discuss incoming MPs, focus a bit on gender and leave lots of time for questions and comments. Monday, … Continue reading
Posted in Ikh Khural 2020
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Voting with Enthusiasm
By Julian Dierkes There was a lot of enthusiasm on display early on June 24 as the polls opened. Expressions of enthusiasm built in part on the very active өглөө campaign that had been part of a bring-out-the-youth-vote effort. … Continue reading
Posted in Curios, Ikh Khural 2020, Pop Culture, Social Media, Younger Mongolians
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Vote Spreads
By Julian Dierkes One of the big questions about the multi-member plurality voting system adopted for the parliamentary election was what the minimum number of votes would be to win a seat, especially since minimum thresholds had been abandoned this … Continue reading