Ministers of new cabinet appointed

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Ministers of the new cabinet have been just appointed by taking the oath of office to the parliament, after Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene issued the ordinance on the appointments. The Steering Committee of the ruling Mongolian People’s Party earlier today, January 29, approved the list of nominees for cabinet ministers, who were then presented to the President and Parliament by the recently appointed Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene. The Steering Committee of the ruling Mongolian People’s Party earlier today, January 29, approved the list of nominees for cabinet ministers, who were then presented to the President and the Parliament by the recently appointed Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene. Eight of the 16 cabinet members namely, S.Amarsaikhan, Ts.Nyamdorj, B.Battsetseg, B.Javkhlan, L.Enkh-Amgalan, S.Enkhbold, N.Urtnasan, and Ch.Nomin have been newly appointed, while the rest who had been ministers of the previous government have been reappointed. Newly appointed cabinet members: Deputy Prime Minister – MP S.Amarsaikhan Head of Cabinet Secretariat – Ts.Nyamdorj Minister of Environment and Tourism – N.Urtnasan Minister of Finance – MP B.Javkhlan Minister of Foreign Affairs – B.Battsetseg Minister of Culture – Ch.Nomin Minister of Health – S.Enkhbold Minister of Education and Science - MP L.Enkh-Amgalan Reappointed cabinet members: Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs - MP Kh.Nyambaatar Minister of Labor and Social Protection - A.Ariunzaya Minister of Construction and Urban Development - B.Munkhbaatar Minister of Defense – G.Saikhanbayar Minister of Road and Transport Development - L.Khaltar Minister Mining and Heavy Industry - G.Yondon Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry - Z.Mendsaikhan Minister of Energy - N.Tavinbekh In accordance with the amendments to the Constitution of Mongolia, which were adopted on November 14, 2019, Prime Minister appoints ministers of the cabinet. Therefore, no voting has been conducted at the plenary session of the parliament. It is noteworthy that half of the previous cabinet members have been reappointed and the new cabinet, for the first time has four women ministers, of which 3 have been newly appointed. Moreover, Ts.Nyamdorj, who served as the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs for many years, has been appointed as the Chief of Cabinet Secretariat. The appointments were made in light of the professional qualifications of the nominees. The Steering Committee of the Mongolian People’s Party concluded that certain ministers of the previous cabinet had to be reappointed as it had been stated that the new cabinet would continue with the major railroad, mining, and oil refinery projects launched by the previous cabinet of former Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh and that it is important to make balanced appointments rather than appointing only new faces at this critical time when the country is fighting COVID-19 outbreaks and facing economic challenges.