Ulaanbaatar
Concerns around COVID-19 and upcoming election discussed with President
Politics
Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. On May 4, President Kh. Battulga held a meeting with members of the State Emergency Commission and General Election Commission to discuss timely issues.
On the issue concerning Mongolians abroad, President Battulga expressed his position that the requests of the Mongolians abroad to return home should be fulfilled as the living situation of Mongolians abroad has worsened and they are at risk of losing livelihoods due to COVID-19 pandemic.
For instance, Mongolians in India are at high risk of contracting the coronavirus and are reportedly facing a minimal food shortage. Taking into account the impossibility of the MIAT national airline company to fly to India, the President instructed the SEC head and Deputy Prime Minister U. Enkhtuvshin to study the possibility of the India’s Airline Company to conduct a flight to Mongolia.
During the meeting, a proposal was raised to ease the current burden using local facilities and personnel qualified to operate international flights, if there arises a possibility to bring people from countries, where Mongolia does not have direct flights. The SEC members considered that this proposal could be implemented and decided to focus on this matter.
At the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on the President’s proposal to develop a policy on the mortgage, which is to commensurate with the salaries of civil servants, and its implementation. The issue was earlier addressed in his proposal for the one-time law, passed by the Parliament concerning COVID-19 pandemic. The President assigned the relevant officials to ensure its prompt implementation.
On the issues regarding the upcoming election: GEC is making preparations to hold regular parliamentary elections. However, there are no clear rules and regulations yet on how to organize large gatherings during the pandemic, such as on the selection of candidates by political parties and coalitions, commencement of election campaign, and voting day. Therefore, the President suggested developing detailed rules to be followed during the election in the wake of the pandemic, elucidating on the responsibility to be held on any risky actions, and formulating the rules shortly.
