MONGOLIA'S DEMOCRACY PROMOTED

Ulaanbaatar, /MONTSAME/ “We, the Mongolians, made a democratic revolution for the first time in Asia,” Chairman of the Democratic Party N.Altankhuyag noted Thursday at the beginning of his speech in a ceremonial meeting in honor of the 20th anniversary of the democratic revolution.
“Mongolia, lying as a geopolitical bridgehead of its two neighbors, was fully isolated from the outside world, and its people had lived in poverty as residing in a colonized country of communist doctrine. For that time, it was the start of a split of communist system in the world, and Mongolia made a democratic revolution for the first time in Asia,” Altankhuyag said.
He recalled the history of democratic revolution as saying “A struggle for independence and freedom had spread in Ulaanbaatar city and Khovd and Khovsgol provinces in the extreme cold of winter”.
“A secret circles named 'New Era' was established by Bat-Uul, Amarsanaa, Tsogtsaikhan and other revolutionists December 10, 1988. Members of this group had distributed and glued propaganda leafs for democracy on windows and doors of residential buildings and public offices during the nighttime.
Young participants in a consultation, organized by the Central Committee of the MPRP November 26, 1989, critically criticized the policy and actions of the government.
A Mongolian Democratic Union was set up January 1989 and S.Zorig was elected as its General Coordinator. In December 28 of that year, an establishment was announced of the Democratic Socialist Movement.
A demonstration was organized in Khovd province December 7, 1989, by students and lecturers of Pedagogical Institute. A demand “Quit the Political Bureau!” was put openly for the first time.
Thousand of people actively took part in a demonstration organized in Central Square on January 24, 1990, by the Mongolian Democratic Union (MDU).
The first Congress of the MDA convened February 17, 1990. New political parties were born for building and strengthening the democracy. The Mongolian Democratic Party announced its formation February 17, 1990. Mongolian Socialist Democratic Party was set up March 2, 1990.
These newly established parties and democratic institutions jointly hosted a massive demonstration and delivered definite demands to the Central Bureau of MPRP and the government. About 100,000 people were present in this meeting.
On March 7, 1990, the MDU organized a hunger sit in Sukhbaatar square demanding the Political Bureau to resign. MPRP admitted the demand and the Political Bureau announced its resignation.
Our struggle for independence, sovereignty, justice and freedom achieved success by passing a number of difficulties. But we did not give up and thus spearheaded great deeds to build and develop a country of Central Asian Democratic Mongolia.”
Democratic Party Chairman Altankhuyag recalled results and lessons of democratic revolution. He said,“Thanks to the democratic revolution, the Mongolian people enjoyed the freedom of expression and exercised the freedom of religious belief. A new democratic Constitution was adopted to assure the democratic governance building. Pluralism has been accepted and multiparty system has been introduced and realized. People entrusted the new Democratic force and gave the vote to DP to have it become a ruling party in 1996. New democratic government carried a number of policies, including liberalizing the economy, reforming customs and taxation policies, conducting privatization, developing free press and giving livestock to herders free of charge.“
“Our party's efforts to develop democratic governance for 20 years, we could elect a Democratic President. We will do all our best for building democracy, running renovation and development of the new time with a capability of keeping an objective to promote Mongolia,” Altankhuayg stated at the end of his speech.
S.Batbayar