Mongolia is going through another period of political turmoil. The newly elected Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav was ousted by parliament and the speaker of Mongolian Parliament, the State Great Hural, Amarbayasgalan Dashzegve resigned, both on October 17. These changes at the top follow a major power struggle within the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), which has now become a destabilizing factor for Mongolia’s governance.
The political battle is also raising constitutional questions. On October 20, President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa vetoed the Parliament’s resolution to dismiss the prime minister Zandanshatar Gombojav, saying the process was unconstitutional. The State Great Hural now has three days to respond.
On the night of October 16, a parliamentary session continued for 24 hours before the assembly voted to oust Zandanshatar as prime minister with 71 votes in favor out of 126 total seats. Under Mongolia’s 2019 constitutional amendment, parliament has the power to remove a prime minister with a simple majority vote.
Khurelsukh criticized the process, saying in a statement that “the voting formula was incorrectly used.” He also claimed that attendance at the session had been based on a count on October 16. Khurelsukh argued that attendance needed to be retaken ahead of the actual vote, which took place on October 17.
The reason for this political fiasco boils down to an internal battle for control of the MPP. Last month, Zandanshatar and Amarbayasgalan battled over the party chairmanship, deepening divides between political factions within the MPP. Some might even say the hostility had begun earlier, when the Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai government was ousted, and competition sharpened to fill the prime minister post.
From the outside, political backstabbings were happening right and left. Weeks of political wrangling and character assassinations of party members eventually came to play out within the parliament itself, which voted Zandanshatar out of office while removing his main rival, Amarbayasgalan, as speaker at the same time.
To the Mongolian public, however, the political fiasco not only demonstrates a lack of confidence in the prime minister and his Cabinet but also is a blow to hopes that corruption cases will be solved, air pollution will be reduced, and salaries will rise. The real elephant in the room is what is happening behind-the-scenes, as actors and stakeholders are attempting to avoid legal hearings on coal and corruption related matters. These events seem all too familiar to the public, as Mongolia has a history of unstable government and ousting of the executive branch.
On a governance level, the repeated failure to solve issues within the ruling party is now spilling over to the executive branch, which raises more questions of accountability on Mongolia’s overall political landscape. This political crisis unfolded while Khurelsukh (also of the MPP) was abroad on an official visit to India.
For now, Mongolia is bracing for another government change while constitutional experts discuss whether the process to oust Zandanshatar was done in accordance with the Constitution. If the Constitutional Court deems that the parliament’s decision to oust the prime minister was unconstitutional, Mongolia could welcome Zandanshatar 2.0, maybe with different ministers. If the process was constitutional, Zandanshatar will continue his role until the new prime minister is appointed – and his rival, Amarbayasgalan, may seek that office.
The Failed Promise of A Reformed Legislature
The fall of 2025 was supposed to be the first full session of Mongolia’s enlarged legislative branch, which now has 126 members (a substantial increase from the previous 76). Newly elected members from diverse political parties showed deep frustration and concern over the corrupt nature of Mongolia’s political life, filled with inept mechanisms. On October 16, not enough MPs attended for a quorum to be formed, delaying the vote on the prime minister’s dismissal.
Luvsanjamts Ganzorig, a newly elected member from MPP, was furious. In his remarks, he condemned the ministers who have served multiple terms yet failed to deliver results to the people. He stated, “In the last two weeks, none of the members discussed solutions, only excuses. I am distraught.” Other MPP members also shared concern and frustration over MPs who did not attend the parliamentary session.
Munkhbayasgalan Bayasgalan, also a new MP from the Democratic Party, told the press that “as someone who just started in the legislative branch, watching the ongoing political fiasco, I am disgusted.” She reminded the members of the Parliament, especially those who did not show up to the sessions, that they are elected to represent the people, not politicians.
Corruption: A Root Cause
There are several elements to the current political landscape of Mongolia, but corruption always looms large.
After losing to Amarbayasgalan in the MPP’s party chair contest at the end of September, Zandanshatar announced that that he would be replacing the justice minister and accused Amarbayasgalan of complicity in grand corruption involving coal theft. Zandanshatar also vowed to combat alleged corruption related to the Erdenet Mining Corporation and international aid intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent years, Mongolia’s political landscape has been filled with popular protests against corruption, sparking resignations of officials and ousting of governments. The root cause of the political chaos and social distress is prolonged corruption and judicial complacency.
In March, the United Nations Human Rights Committee noted that the Mongolian government has not effectively resourced nor utilized independent corruption agencies. The committee “expressed concern over widespread corruption in the State party, including high-level cases involving public officials and politicians.”
The committee took Mongolia to task for “the lack of data on convictions and sanctions of corruption cases.” It also “highlighted issues affecting the independence and effectiveness of the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC), such as insufficient resources and political pressure.”
The committee “called on Mongolia to strengthen anti-corruption efforts by ensuring effective law enforcement, prioritizing investigation and prosecution of corruption cases involving high-level politicians and officials, improving training for legal professionals, and protecting whistle-blowers and witnesses.”
Mongolia’s corruption issue is also reflect in various internationals indices measuring good governance. In 2024, the Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI) scored Mongolia 5.83 out of 10. The index indicated corruption as a major hindrance to governance.
The 2024 BTI report also highlighted Mongolia’s decline in the Electoral Democracy Index, receiving 0.527 out of 1 in 2023 (versus 0.572 in 2022). The decline resulted in Mongolia dropping four places, from 77th to 81st in 2023.
Mongolia scored 33 out of 100 in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perception Index. While the score has been stagnant for the last few years, it has been on a downward trend since 2014 and 2015, Elberdorj Tsakhia’s presidency, when Mongolia’s score was 39.
Despite numerous corruption scandals and rounds of protest over the past five years, the government of Oyun-Erdene, in office from January 2021 to June 2025, did not finalize many corruption cases. Draft laws to fight corruption and protect whistleblowers languished for years in the parliament under the previous government, when Zandanshatar himself was speaker.
Many observers noted that the MPP has consolidated power of all three branches of government – the Office of the President, the executive, and the legislative branch – yet corruption remained a high concern, suggesting a lack of political will.
Recent events also create issues and anxieties for foreign investors, whom Mongolia is desperately trying to attract. As income from coal declines while gold and copper prices are ascendent, the government had been promoting potential new mining projects, including in the budget submitted just before the current crisis.
Escalating Popular Dissatisfaction With Governance
Over and over again, through different administrations, the Mongolian people have voiced their concerns by protesting, demonstrating, striking, and boycotting. The missing piece here is the government’s response to the people’s demands.
As each turn of events sharpens the bickering within the MPP, these internal party divides hinder Mongolia’s governance. The lack of government action could contribute to inciting revolution, especially considering the growing number of protests, demonstrations, and strikes.
The corruption that is fueling the Mongolian political landscape is inherent and at some point, these issues need to be fully investigated and solved. Most importantly, public confidence in government has reduced drastically. The prevailing mood in the current environment is that the Mongolian people have not benefited from any of the decisions being made by political elites.