Parties nominate candidates for 2021 Presidential Election

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Over the past weekend, two political parties and one coalition in the Mongolian parliament, State Great Khural, have completed selecting their candidates to run for the upcoming presidential election of Mongolia, scheduled on June 9, 2021. In specific, the Steering Committee of the ruling Mongolian People’s Party supported Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, who is a leader of the party and served as Prime Minister of Mongolia between 2017 and 2021, as a presidential candidate. The Democratic Party – the opposing party in the parliament is currently divided into two parts. The General Election Commission is expected to decide registering which Democratic Party by the end of this week. The Democratic Party led by O.Tsogtgerel is nominating the current member of the parliament Altankhuyag Norov, who was a Prime Minister between 2012 and 2014. He was elected from Orkhon aimag in the 2020 parliamentary elections as an only independent member in the parliament, and joined the Democratic Party last week. The other part of the Democratic Party led by M.Tulgat has approved to nominate Erdene Sodnomzundui, former member of the parliament, leader of the Democratic Party and Minister of Population Development and Social Protection, for the presidential election. The Right Person Electorate Coalition, which won one seat (MP T.Dorjkhand) in the 76-seat parliament as a result of the 2020 legislation elections, is nominating Enkhbat Dangaasuren, former member of the parliament in 2008-2012 and Founder, CEO of DataCom LLC - Information Technology Service Company in Mongolia. The Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, which holds one seat in the parliament, last week announced to merge with the Mongolian People’s Party. In line with the Law on Presidential Election, the candidates are required to submit their platform between May 3 and 5 to the National Audit Office, which will check and make conclusion on their compliance with legislations, such as country’s development policy, long and medium term official documents and other corresponding regulations. Based on the conclusion, the General Election Commission will register the eligible candidates as official candidates for the 2021 presidential election and will grant candidates card to them within 16 days prior to the polling day. With the latest amendments made to the Constitution of Mongolia in 2019, future presidents of the country will be limited to one six-year term instead of previous four-year terms and will be required to have reached the age of 50.