Who Profits from Mongolia's Paid Protests
In April 2025, an MP told parliament’s justice committee that Mongolia’s paid protesters are well known, and proposed taxing them. The comment was sarcasm, but it named what much of Ulaanbaatar already believed. The country, he said, had moved from tugrik billionaires born of the state to billionaires born of protest.
The anger behind the joke is not in doubt. In December 2022, coal-export graft revelations filled Sukhbaatar Square for days of protest.
In mid-2025, viral posts about the prime minister’s family’s luxury lifestyle helped end Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene’s premiership.
On October 1, 2026, drivers left cars in hours-long fuel queues and marched on the main square in Ulaanbaatar. None of it has reached French proportions, the tens of thousands clashing with police in Paris this month.
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