Thousands of youth protest, premier attempts to pacify with promises

On April 7 and 8, young Mongolians gathered at Sukhbaatar Square to demonstrate against corruption, inequality, tugrug depreciation and the lackluster handling of inflation. Thousands of people aged 18 to 40 joined the demonstration and expressed their opinions through banners and chants. Their main motto was “Do Your Job!” In other words, they stood up against the government and Parliament for failing to effectively deal with the rocketing inflation situation in Mongolia and making the people suffer.

The price of consumer goods has increased by 20 to 150 percent in the last few months due to the Chinese border closure, before worsening as the tugrug weakened amid the spillovers of the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine. For example, a pair of disposable plastic shoe covers used to cost 50 MNT in hospitals but now, it costs 300 MNT.

On top of that, demonstrators demanded the government refund the full 10 percent of VAT to consumers, not just 2 percent.

The two-day demonstration brought about both good and bad results.

PRIME MINISTER TAKES THE STAND

On the second day of the protest, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene made an appearance at Sukhbaatar Square as protestors call for officials to meet them and hear their demands.

The prime minister said that he was glad to meet the representatives of the youth and is willing to cooperate with them by establishing a working group to “overcome the crisis together”. He apologized for the government’s lackluster management of the crisis in the country. The meeting continued under a Q&A format as representatives of the protestors made inquiries.

When protestors asked why the government is not doing its job or properly handling the situation, L.Oyun-Erdene answered, “It’s true that countries worldwide are facing inflation. I believe Parliament will pass a law to control inflation. Even god can’t control it right now. I promise we will do anything we can to maintain the prices of flour, meat, and fuel. But the government is not a magician.”

People were outraged by these words. “You don’t have to be a magician to handle inflation. The government from time to time worked badly, leading us to where we are now. The prime minister himself once said that if he had the choice, he wouldn’t have chosen this time to lead the government. If it’s that hard, then make your predecessors take responsibility for their failure,” one of the protesters said.

In fact, instead of punishing or pointing fingers at previous prime ministers for making the situation this bad, with no resources or money to overcome this crisis, Mongolians elected U.Khurelsukh, the former prime minister before L.Oyun-Erdene, as the president of Mongolia.

On the evening of April 8, the government held an irregular session and L.Oyun-Erdene came out to Sukhbaatar Square once again to introduce the decisions made at the session. Out of 15 demands made by the protestors, the government responded to 11, which are regulated under their authority.

• On April 5, the Government of Mongolia submitted a draft law on preventing price increases and supply shortages and reducing the negative impacts caused by the international crisis to Parliament for urgent consideration. In consultation with the speaker of Parliament, the law will be discussed and approved by Parliament before April 15. The adoption of this law will prevent a sharp rise in the price of fuel, meat and flour due to external factors, and create a legal environment for harmonizing monetary and fiscal policies.

• Officials from the General Police Department and the General Intelligence Agency were called to the government meeting and provided information on the full release of those detained in connection with the demonstration.

• Cabinet decided to submit to Parliament a bill that would not simplify the case of a person accused of corruption and official misconduct and would strengthen the policy of punishing corruption cases next week.

• Amendments to Article 13.2 of the AntiCorruption Law have been included in the draft bill to allow the Independent Authority

Against Corruption to investigate protesters’ demands.

Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene promised to take all necessary measures to ensure that Development Bank’s loan issues are investigated fairly, that the culprits are identified, and that the case is finalized once and for all. Access and selection of soft loans for small and medium enterprises will also be made transparent.

The government will take all necessary measures in the event of an international crisis to shift to austerity mode, not allow civil servants to drive large, expensive cars in Ulaanbaatar and use emergency vehicles in rural areas. Appropriate measures will be taken to have the Mongolian Youth Federation’s office and land use investigated by law enforcement agencies.

The government will not be able to resolve issues related to social insurance premiums, VAT, international payments, black cars, and the immunity of members of Parliament on its own, so the government will submit relevant requests to Parliament and associated standing committees next week.

The government will work with Parliament to resolve issues that cannot be resolved on its own. Cabinet has discussed and responded to 11 of protesters’ 15-point list of demands.

“I would like to reiterate that the government will cooperate with the youth to respond to this list of demands if they select representatives to join the working group. Every time Mongolians unite, they move forward, and every time they divide, they fall down. Therefore, I urge you to be united,” Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene said.

During the first Q&A session with the prime minister, several people were given the microphone to speak on behalf of the protestors and ask questions they prepared in advance from the premier. One of them was seen whispering to the prime minister during a live broadcast on Facebook. It turned out that he was actually a civil servant who works at the Ulaanbaatar Environmental Department. People were backlashing him and the prime minister, who was giving ambiguous answers to questions. People on social media were accusing the man of conspiring with the prime minister to put on a “show”. If this indeed is true, it gives another point to corruption while justice loses once again. But we can’t deny that the civil servant may be truly protesting against the corrupt system and erroneous works of the government just because he works for a governmental organization.

THE CREATIVITY OF YOUTH REVOLUTIONIZE PROTEST CULTURE

Mongolians don’t have a long history of protests like the French. In 2008, people protested outside the Mongolian People’s Party’s office to express their opinions as they accused the party of manipulating parliamentary election votes. However, it turned into a riot and over 500 irreplaceable artworks were destroyed along with the burnt office. Ultimately, several people died and police officers were sentenced for police brutality. Allegedly, an organized group triggered the protestors and the demonstration turned into a chaotic scene, which left a dark mark in Mongolian history.

In January 2021, people protested for equality and the government’s failure to control the spread of the COVID-19 global pandemic. As result, the whole government resigned. U.Khurelsukh resigned six months after becoming the prime minister.

However, this time L.Oyun-Erdene showed his face to the people of Mongolia and apologized publicly. We can say this is the first time that the head of the government came out in flesh to meet protestors. This was a notable moment for a democratic country regardless of how the results turn out.

The most impressive thing about this protest was the creativity of young Mongolians. They didn’t seem to have wanted to express their opinions in a “normal” way. Instead, they made boards and banners that look like memes to show what they are going through in sarcastic and satirical manners. Many of these signs and banners expressed that they want to be able to live a decent life in Mongolia and didn’t want to leave the country to seek a better life.

Some protestors used 10 and 20 tugrug bills to spell “skimped” on a banner, referring to Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar’s statement that called on ordinary people to cut back on their consumption and exercise austerity. The whole banner reads, “The state urges to skimp. We ‘skimped’ our money instead of buying paper and a pen.” The meaning behind this is that using the tugrug bills to spell a word is cheaper than buying a pen, which criticizes the tugrug depreciation and lack of effective response to the issue.

After the protest, one particular photograph trended on social media. It showed how clean Sukhbaatar Square remained even after thousands of people protested and marched on the square. A netizen commented, “In the past, Sukhbaatar Square used to look like a landfill after a celebratory concert. A new era has truly emerged in Mongolia. We need to give the new generation our seat and let them run the country.”

...A new era has truly emerged in Mongolia. We need to give the new generation our seat and let them run the country...

POLICE BRUTALITY LEAVES MANY DEVASTATED AND FRUSTRATED

The demonstration continued until 4:00 a.m. on the first day. Most protesters returned home by then but about a hundred people stayed behind to continue the demonstration. Over a hundred police officers, most of them wearing riot suits, formed a human barricade to push the protestors out of Sukhbaatar Square. They suddenly aggressively marched toward the protestors, shouting at them and forcefully pushing them away.

In a video footage captured by ASU.MN, police officers were seen physically assaulting ordinary people by kicking and hitting them with batons and dragging them across the ground to arrest them. Dozens of protestors were arrested, according to local reports.

On April 8, the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia issued a warning to the General Police Department, strongly advising them to avoid actions that impeach human rights. They met the Cheif of the General Police Department J.Bold to discuss the unnecessary police force used on the people who were protesting in accordance with their rights and the fact that the police used cellphone signal jammers around Sukhbaatar Square. Several news reporters claimed that cellphone signals were being jammed and that they were struggling to live broadcast the scene from the square. The police denied this.

The commission once again proved that its only power is to warn organizations, observe the human rights violations from the sideline and make “meaningless” statements.

Overall, this protest showed that the new generation of Mongolians is not stupid, gullible, or passive as legislators believed them to be. Based on experience, it’s not so likely that the government will make progressive changes to improve people’s quality of life but it’s a good thing to know that young people are able to unite for non-political causes. Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene made a lot of promises during his statements. The youngest prime minister of Mongolia should heed that this new generation can protest as many times as needed to get what they want just as he asked during his speech. The government, Parliament, and L.Oyun-Erdene have many tasks to tick off and time is ticking. The youth has already made its move and the next one may come sooner than expected.