Mongolia Government and Politics

Following the 1992 Constitution, the former People’s Republic of Mongolia is an independent, democratic unity republic according to AllCityCodes.com. The head of state and military commander-in-chief are a four-year presidential candidate. Legislative authority has been added to the great Khural, elected in the general election for four years. The Assembly has 76 members. The great Khural recognizes the president when elected and appoints the prime minister and other ministers. President can veto Meeting, but president veto can be set aside with ²/₃ majority. There is thus a certain balance between parliamentary and presidential power. However, the first position is weakened by the fact that the assembly normally only meets for one session (at least 50 days) every six months.

Reference: Mongolia Flag Meaning

Administrative division

Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces as well as the metropolitan area. Also see AbbreviationFinder for abbreviation of MN and its meanings of Mongolia.

Judiciary

The judiciary includes the Supreme Court, a court in the capital, 18 aymag (provincial) and rural (sum) and urban. The country also has a number of special courts and a separate constitutional court. The integrity of the judiciary shall be protected by a general judicial council. the Supreme Court Chairman, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice are seated. The council nominates, and the major Khural approves, candidates for Supreme Court. The members of the Constitutional Court are nominated by the President, the great Khural and the Supreme Court. The national prosecutor, the head of the prosecuting authority, is nominated by the president and approved by the great Khural.

The main emphasis of Mongolia’s new foreign policy is on economic cooperation and efforts to attract investment and development assistance. Since 1990, Mongolia has sought to establish broad international contact to reduce dependence on neighboring China and Russia.

Foreign Policy

Mongolia works closely with the UN, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Since the mid-1990s, China has been the largest investor and trading partner with Japan as number 2. Since the turn of the millennium, China has received about 60 percent of Mongolia’s exports and responded to nearly 20 percent of its imports.

Mongolia also has a good relationship with the United States. A Mongolian troop contingent of 150 men to the US-led coalition in Iraq was withdrawn in September 2008. At the beginning of 2009, Mongolia participated with 250 soldiers in the UN peacekeeping operation in Liberia.

Good relations and a balanced relationship with Russia as the main supplier of energy, and with China as the most important export market, are Mongolia’s foreign policy priority and constant challenge. At the bottom of these bilateral relations are friendship and cooperation agreements with Russia (1993) and China (1994), based on the so-called five principles of peaceful coexistence.

Mongolia shows growing interest in regional cooperation and joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1998. Mongolia was formally admitted as a member of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 2008, a forum for discussions between the EU and ASEAN countries. In 2007, Mongolia and the EFTA countries signed a joint declaration to strengthen economic cooperation and trade.

Norway – Mongolia

There has traditionally been very little contact between Norway and Mongolia, but with somewhat more frequent visitor exchange in recent years. Crown Prince Haakon visited Mongolia in 2008 as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, UNDP. President Elbegdorj visited Norway in 2012, as the first Mongolian head of state ever. The Embassy of Norway in Beijing is accredited to Mongolia, while Mongolia covers Norway from its embassy in Brussels. New embassy is being established in Stockholm with planned site accreditation for Norway.

The Norwegian Lutheran Mission Mission has had assistance-oriented activities in Mongolia since 1994. According to Norad, the total Norwegian assistance to Mongolia amounted to NOK 3.9 million in 2013, somewhat less than in previous years.

Foreign policy history

Mongolia was subject to China from the late 1300s and from 1924 a Soviet vassal state. From the revolution of 1924, when Mongolia became the world’s second communist country, to the late 1980s, Mongolia followed the Soviet Union’s foreign policy line. China first recognized the Mongolian People’s Republic in 1946. Major Soviet forces were stationed along Mongolia’s border with China. Relations with China were tense for a long time, but were declared normalized in 1992, following the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Almost all of Mongolia’s foreign trade had been with the Soviet Union and other eastern bloc countries.

Mongolia’s defense

The total force figure for Mongolia’s armed forces is 9700 active personnel, with a reserve of 137,000 personnel (2018, IISS). In addition, 7500 semi-military border guards, security forces, and more. Mongolia has 12 months of conscription for men aged 18 to 25 years. The army is equipped with older Soviet equipment, and the country has a small air force without fighter aircraft. Mongolia participates in several international operations.

The Army has a workforce of 8900 active personnel, including 3300 conscripts. Materials included, among others, 420 tanks (370 T-54 and T-55, and 50 T-72), 310 storm tanks and 210 armored personnel vehicles.

The Air Force has a workforce of 800 active personnel, three light transport aircraft and 12 helicopters.

International operations

Mongolia participated in 2018, among others, in the NATO operation in Afghanistan (Resolute Support Mission) with 120 personnel, and in the UN operation in South Sudan (UNMISS) with 867 personnel and seven observers.