2 lawmakers’ accused of sexual assault
D.Gantulga, who was the youngest lawmaker in Parliament after the 2016 parliamentary elections, was accused of raping a 25-year-old woman at her home in 2017 and lawmaker D.Murat, who was elected from Bayan-Ulgii, was accused of sending sexually explicit messages and photos to a woman last year, causing the public to lose trust and respect for Parliament.
In August, the General Prosecutors’ Office delivered a letter of request the suspension of D.Gantulga’s immunity as a lawmaker to Parliament, and Parliament’s Immunity Subcommittee made up of five lawmakers, who were elected five times in the legislature, failed to reach a final decision on the matter.
Head of the Immunity Subcommittee Ts.Nyamdorj said that the subcommittee reached a stalemate over the decision regarding D.Gantulga’s immunity due to a loophole of the Act of Parliament, and because of that, Parliament had to enter into a lengthy process of amending the act.
As strong public criticisms over the two lawmakers’ sexual abuse scandal heated up, the General Prosecutor’s Office put forward a request to revoke the two lawmakers’ immunities to accelerate investigation of their cases to Parliament in June.
In response to the General Prosecutor’s Office’s request, the Immunity Subcommittee’s five members unanimously agreed to revoke the immunities of D.Gantulga and D.Murat, but the majority of lawmakers voted against the proposal to revoke the two legislators’ immunities.
Following Parliament’s rejection over the prosecutor’s proposal to revoke the immunities of two lawmakers, the public frustration escalated. To address the issue, D.Gantulga resigned voluntarily.
After the resignation of D.Gantulga, who was elected to Parliament from Khentii Province, the General Election Committee conducted activities to hold a special election in Khentii Province under the Law on Elections, and Parliament made a decision to hold the special election in October, through its Resolution No. 62.
Following the parliamentary decision, three lawyers filed a complaint about the resolution to the Constitutional Court that holding a special election on October would violate the Constitution. In response to the complaint, the Constitutional Court ruled that Resolution No. 62 violated several sections of the Constitution, and the October special election was cancelled.
On December 25, Parliament’s State Structure Standing Committee reviewed the proposal to amend the Law on Elections.
According to the current law on elections, the Khentii special election can be held in June next year, but lawmakers started conducting the first review for the amendments to the Law on Elections, which means that it is not clear when the special election will be held.