POLITICAL VOICES

Tsakhia Elbegdorj

Prime Minister of Mongolia (1998; 2004-2006) & President of Mongolia (2009–2017), Member of Club de Madrid

Tsakhia Elbegdorj was President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017. He is a public servant, a freedom fighter, and a policymaker from Mongolia.

In 1990, he was one of the key leaders of the Mongolian Democratic Revolution and since then he has continuously served Mongolia as a Member of Parliament four times, Prime Minister two times, and was elected President for two terms.

As Prime Minister, Member of Parliament, and President, Mr.Elbegdorj prioritized strengthening the rule of law in Mongolia, fostering social justice, fighting poverty, combating corruption, supporting environmental sustainability, and advancing active participatory democracy. He has also initiated and led many social, economic, and governance reforms.

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Action

Aiming to consolidate democracy in Asia, Mr. Elbegdorj established the Asian Partnership for Democracy initiative within the confines of the Community of Democracies. Under the chairmanship of the Community of Democracies, he developed a plan on promoting civil society and advocating women’s rights, particularly political rights.

President Elbegdorj Tsakhia vacated his former office inside the State Palace to establish the Citizens’ Hall as a permanent venue for public hearings on draft laws, the first of which would be the draft Press Law. The Mongolian Citizens’ Hall provides the means to receive, consider and incorporate public suggestions and concerns into draft legislation being considered by the parliament, and to help facilitate consensus among social groups, factions, and political forces. The greatest effect of the Citizens’ Hall may be made on the outlook of Mongolian politicians, who are now acknowledging that members of the public hold innovative ideas and valuable knowledge, and that they are capable of sharing these articulately in public discussion. This is opening the way for more forms of citizen engagement in Mongolia, for democratic discussion and deliberation.

Relevant discourse

President Elbegdorj’s speech at the Central European University in 2014, as part of the Frontiers of Democracy Initiative: ‘’Democracy is not simply a question of structures. You cannot be democratic one day, and undemocratic on another. It is a state of mind, it is a way of living, and it is an essence of action. Never have people been so educated, so independent, so agile, so enthusiastic, and so creative. We need to tap that. People know that God gave them their right as well as their government for their own possession. And because of that, we, the civil servants, regardless of our positions and duties, must serve to the interests of all who hired us and pay our salaries.’’

Elbegdorj, in his remarks at the National Diet of Japan in 2010, said that “citizen participation and monitoring are still missing in the public decision making. There cannot be a civil society without citizen participation.”

More information about fields of expertise (i.e. AIDS, reconstruction, digitalization…): Democratic transition, women’s rights, abolition of capital punishment, advocating human rights and civic participation.

Personal Website or others

Tsakhia Elbegdorj's channels

Tsakhia Elbegdorj is leader on:

Citizen engagement & inclusive policy making

Inclusive discourse