I, Ch.Saikhanbileg, am writing this letter from the isolated 461st Detention Center.
People who haven’t been here couldn’t possibly imagine the despair of days and nights spent behind bars aching in mind and body in the tiny room where I am now.
If I ever took bribes or committed a criminal offence, I would do my time and get out. However, it's very frustrating to be sitting here for moving forward a project the country needed most while acting within my powers and duties set by the constitution.
By moving forward with the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine, Mongolia successfully avoided a budgetary and fiscal default that would have occurred in late 2016, which is something we are not talking about. Oyu Tolgoi is responsible for more than half of today's 5 percent economic growth, with OT’s development accounting for 3 percent. The company employs 14,000 Mongolian workers, whereas it fell all the way down to 3000 at one point. Furthermore, more
than a thousand enterprises and 41,000 people have had the opportunity to expand their businesses. Annual foreign investment, which had plummeted to minus $200 million, increased to $1.5 billion, with two out of every three dollars being invested for the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine.
If this project did not move forward in 2015, we would be losing out on $400 million annually. The most important thing is if we hadn’t gotten it moving in 2015, the underground mine’s extractive operation wouldn’t be set to commence 2020. If we did not start at that time, by looking at the current political situation, it is becoming increasingly clear even that even with the highest optimism, extraction would not commence until at least 2025 or even later. We would have lost at the very least 5-10 years or more. Go ahead and multiply this by $400 million
a year. If we did not make the decision, this would only be a part of the lost income. Yet, nobody is demanding that money back, and nobody is demanding people be held accountable for it.
As Prime Minister, I was mandated by the people to move forward with the Oyu Tolgoi underground mining project. About 450 thousand people voted for the first time with a text message, and 60 percent said to quickly move the project forward. At that time, parliament even passed two resolutions tasking the government with initiating the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine. During the lengthy negotiations, the government discussed the matter several times and ultimately gave the authority to sign the Financing Plan to the relevant officials.
The decision to move forward with this project was made by the Joint (coalition) Government of the time, which politicians from all parties with seats in parliament were part of. Then it was officially presented to parliament, and questions from all interested members were answered. After the Joint Government ended, the survey was presented to MPs during the 2015 fall session, and any further questions presented by MPs were also answered.

In addition, there was proposal by the parliamentary minority to recall the government in January 2016, and the majority of MPs decided that the government shouldn’t be punished regarding starting up the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine. In other words, parliament emphasized the issue
and took the time to convey its position clearly enough.
One thing must be highlighted here. The decision regarding whether to move forward with the Oyu Tolgoi underground mining project as well as how to move forward was purely a policy and POLITICAL decision. How the project was to be settled, calculation of costs, and receiving of financial reports were political questions to be decided within the executive branch. According to Article 45.2 of the Constitution and other relevant laws, if government decrees are not in line
with the law, the government itself (parliament, in other words) can invalidate it. (There were no such problems in parliament at the time). In other words, the correctness of policy or political decisions can only be determined by the legislature and the executive branch as stated in the constitution. If this basic power is transferred to the judiciary, the principle of separation of powers will be lost, and we will truly have a constitutional crisis on our hands. In developed
countries such as the US and UK, there is a principle of the judiciary not
overseeing/investigating political decisions.
Let me give an example. In 2017, Mongolia had a decision to make: to involve itself in the IMF program and borrow an additional $2.7 billion, or forego the program since the price of gold, coal and copper were improving and budget revenue was increasing. What if the next parliament, without understanding the situation in 2017, establishes a working group to investigate whether
the decision was right or wrong? Will the judiciary decide what was right or wrong? And who else will be arrested?
Recently, the Prime Minister of Mongolia said that he would soon introduce his political decision to move forward with the Tavan Tolgoi project. Can parliament support this unanimously with one voice? Will those who are opposed seek to have the matter resolved through the courts? Will there be another investigation to follow? The issue surrounding the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine is the same as the two examples above. This dispute, which has passed through three parliaments, cannot be left to three judges to decide. If the courts begin to
determine the correctness of POLITICAL decisions, then political prisoners in Mongolia will be born again (or will become a thing once again – alluding to the socialist days). Today, two Prime Ministers of Mongolia and a former Minister of Finance, as well as other relevant officials, have been detained for the making political decisions.
Therefore, I am sending you the following requests and comments.
One. To the President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga, Speaker of Parliament M.Enkhbold, Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh and members of Parliament and the Government:
1. I would like the National Security Council to pay attention to how two prime ministers are becoming living victims of Vyshinsky-style persecution (referring to Stalin’s Purges) for exercising their constitutional mandate and issuing POLITICAL DECISIONS.

2. One of the foundational principles laid out in the Constitution of Mongolia is the right, whether as a majority or minority, to politicize, debate, and decide on policy and political matters. Today we face the issue, whether intentional or unintentional, of a transfer of this fundamental power to the third branch of government. This raises the question of whether parliaments and governments of the future will be able to decide economic and political matters independently without external interference. Parliament, not the judiciary, should determine the correctness of issues. I want all MPs to hold a solid, unified position on this regard regardless of party and coalition.
3. I hope the Parliamentary Working Group on Oyu Tolgoi will work in an unbiased manner. I want you to meet with those who were in the working group that worked on the negotiations and have them clarify their views - not in a prison cell, but in the office.
Two. To Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mongolia Ts.Zorig, Prosecutor General M.Enkh-Amgalan, and Head of the Independent Authority Against Corruption Kh.Enkhjargal:
1. I hope that you no intention of stirring up the many political problems debated in parliament in the District Courts. Therefore, I would like to ask you to maintain a clear position from the beginning in order to prevent this problem from happening again.
2. Those imprisoned concerning this issue have repeatedly stated that they have not fled and will not flee; that they are no longer state officials, so are unable commit another such crime; and that they intend to respect law enforcement and fully cooperate. However, some people’s detentions have been extended. I implore you to review your decision to detain, which has left society confused, has us confused, and brings about no outcome.
3. I am 100 percent confident that no Mongolian official has ever taken bribes from a public, oversighted, international company in initially establishing as well as resuming the OT project. If this happened, we will be ready to accept any punishment.
Three. To the thousands of active social media users, media outlets, journalists,
newspapers, TV, radio, and websites:Out of respect for the Mongolian state, I came back to be questioned without seeing the completion of my sibling’s cancer treatment.
Despite needlessly jailing me for 30 days, I did not utter one word to the outside. In over a month of incarceration, I have been interrogated only once. Of course, as a human, I wish only to relieve my elderly father’s soul, even if just one day earlier; to kiss my wife and children; to hug my daughter who is barely introduced to life, who still believes her father is in the hospital, counting down the days until I get out. However, this is not just the problem of me and another 4 or 5 people in jail. This is a question of whether there will be more political prisoners in Mongolia; whether the fundamental principles of the Constitution will be adhered to; whether parliament and the government can function normally; whether they will be able to make decisions on a project or program that will bring development; and in what kind of society our children are going to live in.
As a man who firmly believes that those who stand for ethics, justice, and legitimacy far outnumber paid writers, I implore you to raise your voice through the media, news outlets, in your posts and comments, to resolve the issues above and support the great project that is Oyu Tolgoi, which has a positive impact on the country and economy, so that it may operate without
hindrance, and increase the benefits to Mongolia in the future.
Sincerely,
28th Prime Minister of Mongolia Ch.Saikhanbileg
May 2, 2018

Published Date:2018-05-09