Mongolia Eyes to Change its Electoral Rules ahead of 2020 Elections

Mongolia's ruling party, the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), has proposed changing the current winner-takes-all electoral system to a party-list proportional system.

The MPP believes that this change will allow lawmakers to focus on long-term national priorities rather than just constituency-specific issues.

However, different types of proportional representation are under consideration, and some Members of Parliament have expressed concerns that this change could break the link between representatives and their constituents.

Mongolia experimented with a mixed proportional system in the 2012 elections, which resulted in a coalition government.

The system was criticized for creating political instability and was abandoned in 2015. It also gave more power to political party bosses to decide the list of candidates to be elected and distribute seats after the election.

According to a study, the party-list electoral system usually produces coalition governments as no party wins a clear majority. If successful, coalition governments can lead to more long-term policy stability due to consensus building efforts and participatory decision-making processes, bringing wider benefits to society.

The latest survey shows that no party in Mongolia enjoys majority support.

This proposed change to a party-list proportional system could bring more political stability and allow for a more participatory decision-making process, but its impact on the link between representatives and their constituents remains a concern.

Note: The proposal to re-introduce mixed proportional system later failed to garner enough support. The 76 members of the parliament were elected by plurality-at-large voting in multi-member constituencies on June 24 2000.