Mongolia’s parliamentary elections well run but marked by ruling party advantage and several fundamental rights limitations: international observers

ULAANBAATAR, 29 June 2024 – Yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Mongolia were well run and candidates could campaign freely overall, but competitiveness was negatively affected by the lack of a level playing field and a series of pay rises and social benefit increases in the run-up to the elections gave an unjust advantage to the ruling party, international observers said in a statement today.

The joint observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Parliament (EP) found that the legal framework is adequate to hold democratic elections, but further improvements are needed to fully protect fundamental rights and freedoms. Changes made to the constitution in May last year aimed to increase the strength and diversity of the parliament. However, a number of longstanding ODIHR recommendations remained unaddressed.

“While the parliamentary elections were technically well-organized, they were characterized by the lack of a level playing field, and heavily favoured the ruling party,” said Ambassador Jennifer Brush, who headed ODIHR’s election observation mission. “It was good to see the new election legislation resulted in a larger parliament with increased political plurality and more women, and we hope that the new parliament will work to address the overall deterioration of freedom of speech and the media.”  

While the elections offered political alternatives to choose from, the more established parties had a clear advantage through their ability to campaign across the country in person during the short campaign period. At the same time, a law requiring candidates to align their election programmes with specific government policies limited freedom of expression and opinion. The campaign was also marred by a single violent incident that resulted in the death of a district party head, currently the subject of an investigation.

Some 2.2 million citizens were registered to take part in yesterday’s elections. The work of the national election administration was professional and transparent, enjoying stakeholder trust and it carried out a comprehensive voter information campaign ahead of the elections. Election day was calm across the country. However, while polling procedures were largely followed and positively assessed by observers, the process was negatively affected by the layout of polling stations and overcrowding, compromising the secrecy of the vote in some cases.

Tomáš Zdechovský, Head of the EP delegation, said: “During a peaceful and festive election day, we were impressed by the professionalism of the workers in the polling stations we visited, composed predominantly of women. We also noted a strong commitment by older voters to go and vote, less so amongst the young. This highlights the need for the political establishment to increase their engagement and outreach to this crucial demographic, in whose hands the future of this beautiful and proud country lies. Overall, the technological advancements used in Mongolia's electoral process contributed to the transparency and efficiency of the voting process.”

Mongolia has a diverse media scene and coverage of the election was extensive, but the lack of in-depth news coverage and analytical reporting undermined the ability of voters to make an informed choice. While the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, legislation against dissemination of false information is currently being used to prosecute several journalists, leading to widespread self-censorship.

The international election observation is a joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Parliament (EP). The mission totalled 199 observers from 30 countries, made up of 186 ODIHR-deployed experts and observers, and 13 from the EP.

For more information, please contact:

Katya Andrusz, ODIHR: +48 609 522 266 or katya.andrusz@odihr.pl