Page 21 - bne IntelliNews newspaper 14 July 2017

Eurasia
July 14, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
Democratic Party’s Battulga wins second round of Mongolian elections
bne IntelliNews
The popular martial arts star and populist can- didate Battulga Khaltmaa has won the second round run-off in Mongolia’s election with more than 50% of the vote.
Battulga’s victory might worry investors as he is seeking to reinstate a banking measure that previously caused the country’s IMF-led $5.5bn bailout deal to come to a standstill. The bailout agreement is meant to mend some of the damage caused by the economic slowdown in Mongolia. The economy grew by more than 17% in 2011 but only notched up 1% GDP growth in 2016, as economic expansion almost came to a shuddering halt because of a steep decline in commodities prices.
Battulga, credited for building Mongolia’s biggest (40m tall) Genghis Khan statue, rode the wave of popular resentment against China in order to secure his victory. Mongolia currently relies overwhelmingly on China’s demand for commodities – almost 90% of the country’s exports go to China – but there is growing distrust towards China within the country.
At the same time, Battulga, 54, has advertised himself as an ally of Putin, indicating that his victory might now mean a potential pivot towards Russia at least in terms of Mongolia’s political life.
Despite presenting himself as an anti-oligarchic candidate with aims of countering the ruling Mongolian People’s Party’s (MPP) ambitions, Battulga’s own party, the Democratic Party (DP), is widely seen as the party that plunged the country into an economic crisis in the first place. The infamy of DP brought a landslide victory for MPP last year and granted it control over parliament. MPP is often seen as the pro-
investment party, while DP is associated with stalling talks on the underground development of the Kumtor mine.
Nevertheless, the stakes are not seen as so high because in Mongolia the parliament controls the government. Even though the president can veto legislative decisions, the parliament can overturn his or her interventions with a two-thirds major- ity vote. However, the head of state can also make some key appointments, including the heads of the Independent Authority Against Corruption and the General Intelligence Agency.
CHANGES ARE GOOD
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