Parliament:	Ulsyn Ikh Khural State Great Hural
Structure:	Unicameral
Chamber:	Ulsyn Ikh Khural - State Great Hural
President:	Radnaasumberel Gonchigdorj (M)
Secretary general:	Logi Tsog (M)
Members:	76 directly elected
Percentage of women:	8 %
Term:	4 years
Last renewal:	30 June 1996
Address:	State Great Hural State Palace - ULAN BATOR 12 Tel.: (9761) 322 150, 329 210 Cable: State Great Hural of Mongolia, Ulan Bator 12 Telex: 225 HARSH MH Fax: (9761) 322 866
Affiliation to IPU:	Yes
Affiliation dates:	1962

ELECTORAL SYSTEM
Constituencies:
76 single-member.

Voting system:
Simple majority vote. Polling only valid if at least 50% of the registered electors have turned out in each constituency.
Vacancies arising between general elections are filled through by-elections.
Voting is compulsory.

Voter requirements:
- age: 18 years
- Mongolian citizenship
- residence in Mongolia
- disqualifications: insanity, detention

Eligibility:
- qualified electors
- age: 25 years
- Mongolian citizenship

Incompatibilities:
(not applicable)

Candidacy requirements:
- by officially registered political parties or coalitions thereof
- support of at least 801 electors of the constituency concerned
- deposit of 10,000 tögrögs, reimbursed by half on election or if above the average individual polling result in the constituency concerned

LAST ELECTIONS

• Results
• Distribution of seats: by political group, profession, sex, age

Date(s) of elections / renewal
30 June 1996

Purpose of elections
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.

Background and outcome of elections
The 1996 elections were the second since a multi-party Electoral Law was promulgated in 1990. In January 1992, a Constitution endorsing the new pluralist system and providing for the present parliamentary set-up was adopted. Five months later, the ex-communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won in a landslide over a scattering of poorly organized opposition parties.
As in 1992, campaign issues primarily concerned the country's ailing economy, marked by high unemployment and inflation rates that resulted in low living standards and widespread impoverishment. This time around, though, the MPRP's opposition was united in the Democratic Union coalition led by the National Democratic and Social Democratic parties, and led by Mr. Mendsaihan Enkhsaikhan. This alliance called for faster economic liberalization and political reform.
Altogether 302 candidates (267 party/coalition members and 35 independents) were in contention. On a generally calm polling day, the opposition forces scored a dramatic victory, thus ending 75 years of rule by communist parties and their heirs. While the MPRP lost 47 of its 70 Hural seats, the National Democrats supplanted it as the leading party with 33. The Social Democrats, led by Mr. R. Gonchigdorj, for their part collected 12 seats, allowing the coalition as a whole to arrive at 50. Much of the voting pattern was reportedly split along age lines, older citizens favoring the MPRP and younger ones its opponents. The 44 international observers from 11 countries deemed the voting procedure free and fair.
On 19 July, the newly elected Hural elected Mr. Enkhsaikhan as Prime Minister and entrusted him with forming a new Government, whose composition it approved on 30 July. The President of the Republic is Mr. P. Ochirbat, formerly of the MPRP but supported as from 1993 by the Opposition.

Statistics
MONGOLIA State Great Hural

1. Results of the elections

Number of registered electors	1,147,260
Voters	1,014,031 (88.38%)
Blank or void ballot papers	3,874
Valid votes	1,010,157

2. Distribution of seats according to political group

	Candidates	Votes	%	Seats
Democratic Union Coalition :	74	475,267	45	50
- Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP)				-33 (+29)
- Mongolian Social Democratic Party (MSDN)				-12 (+11)
- Others				-5 (+5)
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP)	76	408,977	39	25 (-45)
Mongolian Traditional United Party	17	15,810	1	1 (+1)
				___
				76

3. Distribution of seats according to profession

Economists	25
Teachers	15
Engineers	10
Lawyers	9
Journalists	4
Physicists, Mathematicians	3
Others	10
	___
	76

4. Distribution of seats according to sex

Men	70
Women	6
	___
	76

5. Distribution of seats according to age

25-35 years	21
36-45 "	39
46 " and over	16
	___
	76

PRESIDENCY OF THE PARLIAMENT
Appointment and term of office | Status | Functions

APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF OFFICE
Title:
Chairman of the State Great Hural

Term:
- duration: 4 years (term of House)
- reasons for interruption of the term: resignation, conviction of a crime, death, dissolution of Parliament

Appointment:
- elected by all Members of the State Great Hural
- the election is held at the beginning of the first session of the newly elected Parliament
- after members' mandates have been validated and they have been sworn in

Eligibility:
- any Member of the State Great Hural may be a candidate

Voting system:
formal vote by secret ballot
- two-third majority required for all rounds
- if there is a succession of votes, new candidates are admitted

Procedures / results :
- the eldest Member presides over the Assembly during the voting
- the eldest Member announces the results without delay
- the results cannot be challenged

STATUS
Status:
- ranks second in the hierarchy of State
- may serve as acting Head of State in the latter's absence
- represents the Assembly with the authorities
- is an ex officio member of the Security Council of Mongolia
- represents the Assembly in international bodies
- in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker can assume his/her role and functions

Board:
[none]

Material facilities:
- allowance
- official residence
- official car
- additional staff
- household staff
- bodyguards

FUNCTIONS
Organization of parliamentary business:
- convenes sessions
- establishes and modifies the agenda
- organizes the debates and sets speaking time
- examines the admissibility of bills and amendments
- refers texts to a committee for study
- examines the admissibility of request for setting up committees and/or committees of enquiry, proposes or decides on the setting up of such committees

Chairing of public sittings:
- can open, adjourn and close sittings
- ensures respect for provisions of the Constitution and Standing Orders
- makes announcements concerning the Assembly
- takes disciplinary measures in the event of disturbance, and lifts such measures
- establishes the list of speakers, gives and withdraws permission to speak
- establishes the order in which amendments are taken up and selects which amendments are to be debated
- calls for a vote, decides how it is to be carried out, verifies the voting procedure and cancels a vote in the event of irregularities
- checks the quorum
- interprets the rules or other regulations governing the life of the Assembly
- has discretionary power to give the floor outside the agenda and thus organizes impromptu debates

Special powers:
The Secretary General:
- recruits, assigns and promotes staff
- organizes the services of the Assembly
- plays a specific role in the supervision of foreign affairs or defence matters
- is responsible for relations with foreign Parliaments
- is responsible for safety, and in this capacity, can call the police in the event of disturbance in the Assembly

Speaking and voting rights, other functions:
- takes the floor in legislative debates
- provides guidelines for interpretating or supplementing the text under discussion
- takes part in voting
- proposes bills or amendments
- intervenes in the parliamentary oversight procedure
- signs laws before transmitting them to the Head of State for promulgation

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