GIA Director nominated as the next Foreign Minister

R.Bold, director of the General Intelligence Agency, has been nominated by PM S.Batbold to take over the PM's previous position as the Foreign Minister. Before being appointed the head of the GIA, he served as Mongolia's ambassador to the US during 2003-2007.

Swine flu update

The total number of confirmed cases of H1N1 has reached 632 as of Sunday, of whom 514 are in UB city. There have been 7 deaths so far. Health Minister S.Lambaa has been criticized by the media for not taking preventive measures soon enough and for downplaying the rate at which the infection was spreading. During his recent meeting with WHO officials, he admitted that the swine flu cases may reach epidemic proportion.  Mongolia received 45,000 tamiflu vaccines recently from WHO.

Su. Batbold instated as the 26th Prime Minister of Mongolia

"You've no idea how hard it is to hold on to this thing"
President Elbegdorj (centre) gazes on thoughtfully as Su.Batbold (left) is handed
the PM's seal of office by the Deputy PM, N.Altankhyag (right).

The Parliament convened yesterday to ratify the nomination of Su. Batbold, MPRP's candidate to take over the Premier's seat. With 93.9% of the MPs voting in approval of his nomination, he was instated as the 26th Prime Minister of Mongolia in an official ceremony yesterday. He gave up his position as the Foreign Minister after a somewhat confused debate amongst the MP's on whether the PM could hold a concurrent post as the Foreign Minister. So the obvious next question is, who will be the next Foreign Minister?

More on Louis Vuitton

LV promo shot. Photo source

Came across an article on Louis Vuitton Mongolia here. The article includes a set of promo photos with herders and LV bags. Interesting and exotic to those who know nothing about Mongolia perhaps. Absolutely ridiculous to us who live here. Why the kid (meaning the baby goat)? Herders with LV bags that are probably more expensive than their entire herd? If this is an attempt at photographic surrealism and a social commentary on the absurdity of consumerism, it does its job very well. But I doubt that is the case here.

Visit the article source for more fun photos.

Su.Batbold nominated by MPRP for the PM's seat

 Su.Batbold, the PM nominee. Photo from News.mn

MPRP's party conference on Wednesday evening unanimously voted for Su.Batbold, the Minister for Foreign Relations and Trade, to take S.Bayar's place as the Premier. Su.Batbold's name has been presented to the President for his seal of approval today.

While S.Bayar will step down as the PM, he has expressed his intention to retain his party chairman position. If the MPRP governing board approves of his decision, perhaps it will be one way for S.Bayar to ensure that everything he has worked hard to accomplish isn't undone by his successor. At the same, this move is greeted with some hesitation by members of the press, as it may lead to power struggles and internal party politicking.

The Foreign Minister Su.Batbold is a diplomat and the former CEO of Altai Trading Co.Ltd, a conglomerate that owns Altai Cashmere and Chinggis Khaan hotel. He started his political career in 2000 as the deputy minister of Foreign Relations and has been in Parliament since 2004.

PM Bayar to resign

PM S.Bayar made an official request yesterday morning to resign from his post as the Prime Minister, citing health reasons.  The MPRP governing body received his request, and will present it to the Parliament during its next session. The MPRP will also nominate a candidate for the Premier's seat during their next party session on Wednesday, and present the nominee to the President. The newspapers have been speculating on the possible candidates, including M.Enkhbold, former PM and current Deputy PM, who lost his position as the PM in 2007 to S.Bayar when MPRP removed M.Enkhbold from his party chairman post.

Hardly an ideal situation for Mongolia, as for me personally, S.Bayar is a better PM than many of the possible candidates mentioned in the press. Bayar's resignation may also bring into question the stability of the coalition government. While the MPRP and DP sides both agree that the coalition government should remain, MPRP's choice for a PM candidate will be the deciding factor for its future.