Ulaanbaatar, April 19, 2023 /MONTSAME/. Chairman of the State Great Khural G. Zandanshatar met with representatives of lawyers and scholars on April 18 to discuss changes and amendments to the Draft Law on Elections of the State Great Khural of Mongolia and the revised Draft Law on Political Parties.

At the beginning of the meeting, Speaker of the Parliament G. Zandanshatar emphasized the importance of the amendments to the Law on Elections of the State Great Khural and the Law on Political Parties to animate the 2019 amendments to the Constitution of Mongolia and implement legal reforms. Working groups designated to prepare draft laws for parliamentary discussion will be set up this week and persons concerned are invited to take part.  

Legislative reform is expected to be made through changing the "Money" election, strengthening the internal democracy of parties, and making the financing of political parties transparent. In his speech, the Speaker stressed that Law on Elections of the State Great Khural and the Law on Political Parties were inseparably linked and it was necessary to listen to the opinions of academics and lawyers in order to reflect all process in details to avoid to make the laws declarative.

Head of the Office of the President of Mongolia Ya. Sodbaatar presented the revised Draft Law on Political Parties. On January 6, 2022 President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh appointed a working group to develop revised Draft Law on Political Parties, consisting of representatives of parliamentary parties and other parties, academics, and government organizations, paying attention to the legal reform of political parties. The working group held 14 discussions, meetings and interviews with representatives of parliamentary parties and other parties, academics, and government organizations during the process of drafting the law, and received opinions from 35 political parties registered in the Supreme Court. The draft reflected the main five regulations:

- To improve the responsibility of political parties,

- Development of a political party as a policy institution,

- Ensuring the transparency of party financing and improving control,

- Ensuring equal participation of party members,

- Development of internal democracy of political parties.

The participants of the meeting expressed their position regarding the concept of the draft law. For example, Member of the People's Great Khural, Honored Economist of Mongolia T. Ochirkhuu, and Constitutional Researcher D. Lamjav said, "It is correct to regulate the strict membership of political parties. The General Election Commission should have an independent structure to review any political disputes.”

Honored Scientist of Mongolia, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Jurisprudence, Professor N. Lundendorj, pointed out that major reforms were to be made within the law on political parties, and said that to prevent it from becoming a declaratory law, detailed regulations of the processes should be included. Lawyer B. Gunbileg noted that if the draft law did not clearly reflect the issues that may or may not be specified in the rules of political parties, there may be a risk of violation of the state power granted by the Constitution.

Academician S. Narangerel expressed his opinion on the need to make certain arrangements to capacity building of human resources and strengthen internal democracy, as the main goal of political parties was to have candidates capable of representing the people. Honored Lawyer of Mongolia, Doctor of Law, professor N. Jantsan, Honored Cultural Figure of Mongolia, Diplomat T. Gombosuren expressed their support for the draft law and said, "It should become a law to eliminate the instability of political parties. The main focus should be put on ensuring the transparency of financing of political parties and improving control.”