SESSION STARTS AND EVENTS AROUND IT

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The plemary spring session of the State Great Khural (parliament) started on April 5. It was adjorned on February 8. The attendance stood at 79.7 percent. The Speaker Z.Enkhbold opened the session, reporting on the works done during the break. He said many MPs, including him, had worked in regions to speak about approve laws, to propagandize legislative documents, to introduce this session's agenda, and to learn people's opinions and comments. Ther Speaker went on that, together with some MPs he had been to Khentii, Dornod and Sukhbaatar aimags to get au fait with schools, kindergartens and hospitals, to meet with the locals, to witness works of the Tamsag oil industry and Bichigt checkpoit. "We have seen much progrees, for example, Mongolia has become the oil-extracting state, a Polytechnics college has been educating many hundred young people at requests of employers for the first time," he mentioned. Apart of this, he had paid visits to the USA and Canada, he went on. Many important meetings had been run aimed at elevating the Mongolia-USA relationship and cooperation into the strategic partnership level, at deepening the Mongolia-Canada ties in social, economic and business spheres, he said. After this the Speaker sounded the spring session's agenda and said that several profound works await parliament such as o providing the youth with jobs, ceasing cases of infectious diseases, and others. Then, the President of the country Ts.Elebegdorj took the floor. xxxxxxxx Right at the moment when the President was saying "Now the law is in power not any bosses...We are required to be tough towards the guilty and gentle towards the innocent", the faction of the Mongolian People's party (MPP) left the session. From the very beginning the faction members had been sitting with slogans "Democratic parliament is in crisis", "Voices of minority is supressed" and so on. After leaving the faction went to the Sukhbaatar square to organize a demonstration. The MPP secretary-general G.Zandanshatar said their party sees "how the Democratic party is breaching the law, how the national security and independence are being lost, how the state servants are being dismissed." He also spoke about the "Chingis" bonds, "at interest of which we could have erected many schools and kindergartens", price rise and others. The MPP wants the powers "to keep to the election promises, to prioritize justice, to withdraw the government", he said. xxxxxxxx The President mentioned that this time is coinciding with the last year's start of the election campaing, and hoped that all MPs remember their speeches and political promises. Then he focused on five matters he considers as the progress: firstly, the Mongolian people are changing, their mentality, spirit and lifestyle are changing day by day, and their willingness is rising to be an owner of their rights and of wealth; secondly, the people want more participation in decision-making and in work because they see that civil society-made decisions, an individual's creations and results are becoming more and more accessible; thirdly, the legislative power is stabilizing, Mongolia is becoming the law-powered state not the one man-ruled, the law catches anyone guilty whether he/she is high official or wealthy one, and we demand Mongolian or a foreigner that the law must be obeyed always; fourthly, a prestige of Mongolia is rising, and the world comminity is respecting us more and more, Mongolia-related issues are more appreciated than reproached; fifth, a lot of things have been regularized despite problems existing, the main issue is that we have learned to clearly see these difficulties, to frankly discuss them and to seek solutions, we have all chances to correct our mistakes. After this the President turned to some negative issues: firstly, we forget about a human, this is our main mistake, we talk a lot about the mining, great construction, reforms "but when will we talk about the human?", "look around, there are many who even cannot afford to smell meat, who sell nuts to get a 10-togrog profit, who crowd hospitals' corridors because free beds are not found"; secondly, the state does not support creators, those who work for something needed, this is a big mistake, "why are so little non-state investments in education and health?"; firdly, the state is becoming huge, expences for the power are increasing, it is also a mistake and we must do something with it, we should freeze all expences apart of those dependent on rates changes, "and I do expect that the government will take it into consideration when planning the budget frames this spring", also "I want all to cooperate, for example in fighting with the corruption and in helping those in need, the corruption is like fungus, it must be scraped away time to time"; fourthly, another great mistake--the people still do not have an access to the social wealth, Mongolia still has few rich people and many poor, if not to share the wealth with them, we will lose the rich, so in solving this problem we do not have to invent something, we just must attract people to deeds that produce the wealth, it must be for all not for one family or a clan, it is impossible; fifthly, our ongoing merciless attitude to the nature cannot be justified at all, "how should we react to someone who chop down a young growing tree?", it is like killing a youngster, and how we can tolerate those who destroy water springs?" D.Enkhbileg