Parliament forms quorum after two months www.zgm.mn
After prolonging the lawmaking process for about two months, the Parliament finally formed a quorum last week. With multiple urgent items of high importance on the order list, the Parliament appointed Ulaan Chultem as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry.
Next on the order list was the suspension of some Parliament members’ special rights who have involved in Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development Fund embezzlement allegations. The Prosecutor General of Mongolia Enkh-Amgalan Magvannorov submitted a bill on suspending the rights of four Parliament members. Although a number of public servants related to the case were detained, the Parliament viewed that the loans of four MPs, namely Soltan Gombojai, Damba-Ochir Dorjdamba, Undarmaa Batbayar and Enkhbold Luvsan, drawn from the SMEDF are in line with the law of Mongolia.
At the plenary session, Mr. Enkh-Amgalan addressed, “We are investigating everyone related to funds. This is a very large-scale investigation. It is taking time because of the lack of staff. Only 25 people are working on each loans granted from the SMDF and the Independent Authority Against Corruption is investigating the fund. There are many others, including Animal Husbandry Fund and Agriculture Support Fund.”
Additionally, the end to public demonstration on ousting the Speaker was followed with the meeting of Standing Committee on State Structure last friday. The committee held discussion on President-initiated bill on Parliament Session Procedures, which allows the Parliament to oust the Speaker with the majority votes from Parliament members. Accordingly, the bill will be discussed by the Parliament this week. The ratification of the bill lead to potential dissolution of the Parliament as Democratic Party caucus began collecting signatures for a petition to oust the Speaker.
Published Date:2019-01-14