Mongolia Properties

The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (Mongolian: Mongol Ardyn Khuv'sgalt Nam) is an ex-communist political party in Mongolia. The party is abbreviated MPRP in English and MAKN in the transliterated Mongolian form. The transliteration MAKN is also the Mongolian word for "meat," the staple of the Mongolian diet. Because of this the MPRP is often referred to as the "meat" party.

The MPRP was the ruling party of the People's Republic of Mongolia from 1921 until 1996 (with no other political parties allowed until 1990) and from 2000 until 2004. The current President, Natsagiyn Bagabandi, is a member of the party. As of January 2006, the party holds exactly half of the 76 seats in the State Great Hural, and has nominated former mayor of Ulan Bator, Miyeegombo Enkhbold as party leader and prime minister.

The party was established on March 1, 1921, and is claimed to have been the first real political party in Mongolia. It was originally known simply as the Mongolian People's Party, but added the word "Revolutionary" at a conference in 1924. The organizational structure was modeled closely on that of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which the party followed closely.

The early days of the party were marked with considerable controversy, often related to Mongolia's relationship to the Soviet Union; eventually, the pro-Soviet faction was triumphant, and more independent-minded leaders such as Dogsomyn Bodoo and Peljidiyn Genden were either sidelined or executed. Genden's fall resulted in the rise of Horloogiyn Choybalsan, who was a strong follower of Joseph Stalin and is generally regarded as the most brutal of the communist-era leaders. Many members of the party were purged during this period, primarily supporters of Genden's faction.

Choybalsan was followed by Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, who was Prime Minister of Mongolia for twenty-two years (the longest time served by any Prime Minister). Tsedenbal was considerably more moderate than Choybalsan, and implemented policies similar to those of new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In the 1990s, Mongolia began to modernize its political system, implementing many of the reforms seen in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the People's Revolutionary Party remained in office until 1996, when the Mongolian Democratic Union won power.

Under the leadership of Nambaryn Enkhbayar, the party modernized its image of corruption and appeared to shed many of the legacies of communism. Today, the party portrays itself as a social democratic organization, and its leader claims to be an admirer of Britain's ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair. Based on this image, it won a landslide victory in the 2000 elections.

Critics of the party, however, allege that its "reform" was illusionary, and that the party's success was the result of better public relations rather than any real change. In particular, the party's critics have alleged that the People's Revolutionary Party sought to acquire and censor television and print media, and there were claims of opposition journalists being imprisoned. A number of prominent government opponents, such as General Baatar (former Head of Mongolia's Intelligence Agency), L. Gundalai (an MP), and B. Batbayar (a former Finance Minister), were arrested and jailed during 2000-2004 for their political views when Nambaryin Enkhbayar's Government solely controlled the country.

The elections of June 27, 2004, in which Mongolians voted in record numbers, saw a major defeat for the People's Revolutionary Party, which lost a total of 35 seats (47% of those it had previously held). Election irregularities became common in Mongolia, where all but one of the members of the General Elections Committee belong to the MPRP. Election tricks, cheating and several re-elections (at the request of the MPRP) in the constituencies where MPRP didn't win brought those seats to MPRP, against widely reported voters' protests. Even after these, Mongolian democratic parties won half of the seats at the Parliament and a power-sharing agreement was put in place between the MPRP and its opponent Democratic Party from August 2004. As part of the terms of the power-sharing agreement, the MPRP would regain the Prime Ministership in August 2006 after a term in office by Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party. However, MPRP violated its three contracts with Democratic Party and illegally overthrew Elbegdorj's government, violating Mongolia's Constitution's Article 25, Paragraph 1-6 on January 13, 2006.

MPRP Directing Board made the decision to overthrow Democrat Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj's government, a day after MPRP leaders met with MPRP appointed Customs Chairman Kh. Baatar. He was arrested, along with other Customs officials, on charges of corruption. He then claimed that the MPRP leaders were his key ties in the corruption network. The decision coincided with the beginning of the financial investigation of various funds of Ulaanbaatar City. Land related corruption scandal over the MPRP-appointed city officials emerged in recent years. MPRP's high ranking officials are deeply involved in corruption. Mayor of Ulaanbaatar City (1998-2005) and MPRP chairman Miyeegombo Enkhbold became the Prime Minister on January 25, 2006, after overthrowing Elbegdorj's government which was fighting against corruption. Many Mongolians have protested strongly against the MPRP's decision to overthrow Elbegdorj's government. The MPRP established a government named the "Government of National Unity", a label first used by Nelson Mandela's 1994 post-apartheid government.

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