Ulaanbaatar
Mongolians tell Government to prioritize national interests
PoliticsUlaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ 54 percent of Mongolians believe that Mongolia is headed in a wrong direction and identify wrong economic policy as main reason, reveals International Republican Institute’s most recent nationwide poll conducted in cooperation with the Embassy of Canada in Mongolia to ascertain public opinion following the 2016 General Elections.
82 percent of the 5000 participants of the poll chosen from 21 aimags and 9 districts rated current economic conditions of the country ‘bad’ and ‘very bad’, which is a similar stance showed by IRI’s previous poll. Similarly with the previous one, the recent poll indicates that the Mongolian people are deeply concerned with corruption which they believe to be spreading in private sectors as well.
IRI’s previous poll conducted prior to the Elections reflected optimism and hope in democratic system. “The last poll disclosed that Mongolians considered poverty, unemployment and increase in commodities price to be major problems. Interestingly, we found that some people consider air pollution and foreign debt to be the most urgent problems after this poll”, said Ashleigh Whelan, IRI’s Resident Representative to Mongolia.
The Mongolian people also expressed their approval on increased women participation in politics. Majority of the participants conveyed to the Government to prioritize the national interests of Mongolia.
“Canada has actively contributed to development of democratic values in Mongolia for the last 25 years”, said Canadian Ambassador to Mongolian Ed Jager during a press conference held on March 23 to publicize the results of the poll. He also appreciated the increasing representation of women in Mongolian Parliament. The current Parliament has the highest representation of women.
IRI plans to conduct another poll after the Presidential Election which is to take place in June.
