Jailing Complicates Mongolia Election
The unusual detention of Mongolia's former president could last until the eve of next month's elections, throwing into doubt his political comeback and dealing a setback to what had been considered a relatively healthy democratic system.
Enkhbayar Nambarwas jailed last month on allegations he illegally profited while in office. Last week, a judge extended the detention two months, until days before June 28 parliamentary elections in which Mr. Enkhbayar planned to run.
Mr. Enkhbayar on Friday sent messages to supporters gathered outside the prison in which he pledged to protest his detention by ingesting only liquids, according to his attorney and family members. They said they've had only limited access to the 53-year-old, and worry that his health his failing.
In Mongolia's short 22 years of democracy, Mr. Enkhbayar has been president, prime minister and parliament speaker, a résumé his supporters and foreign analysts say makes him a formidable political threat to sitting politicians, including his bitterest rival, President Elbegdorj Tsakhia. Mr. Enkhbayar recently formed a new political party and planned himself to contest one of the 76 seats in the parliament, which would give him a platform from which to campaign in next year's presidential elections.
"The only way to stop him was to detain him," said Enkhbayer Batshugar, his 25-year-old son.
His detention was ordered by Mongolia's Independent Agency Against Corruption, which last month alleged Mr. Enkhbayar profited illegally while holding public office, including on the sale of a hotel and misuse of donations to a Buddhist charity. Mr. Enkhbayar, dragged out of his house by riot police on live television on April 13, hasn't appeared in court or been formally charged.
"All the charges are false and politically motivated," said the former president's lawyer, O. Baasankhuu, speaking by telephone through a family interpreter.
Government officials ignored numerous requests to comment.
Political analysts say the timing of the corruption allegations against Mr. Enkhbayar strongly suggests a link to his effort to return to public life. In an open letter last week, a group of Mongolian lawyers described the former president as a "political prisoner."
Mark C. Minton, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mongolia between 2006 and 2009, said the treatment of Mr. Engkbayar is "not only an image problem. That's a problem for the credibility of the rule of law in Mongolia."
Election season in historically nomadic Mongolia is often disorderly. In the previous parliamentary election, in 2008, deadly riots followed allegations the tally was rigged. The fallout was a factor in Mr. Enkhbayar's own loss to Mr. Elbegdorj in presidential elections the following year.
The two—both intellectuals, educated abroad and fluent in English—have long-running differences. Mr. Enkhbayar recently formed a new party and in the past was the leader of a conservative socialist party that traced its roots to Mongolia's Soviet era. The current president, Mr. Elbegdorj, is the product of a party that came to power rallying pro-democracy street demonstrations. Last November he reconstituted the leadership of the six-year-old corruption watchdog that later ordered his rival's detention.
A big source of political tension today is how to distribute the wealth from the country's mining boom among 2.8 million Mongolians. Economic growth is expected to top 17% in 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund, for the second year in a row.
Issues include defining the role of foreign participants. With the parliamentary election looming, the government has pushed back against foreign investment in the sector, suspending some mining licenses for Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd.,1878.HK -1.04% after Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. ACH -3.71% offered about $900 million last month for a controlling stake in the company. A smaller, unrelated deal by the Chinese company a few weeks later was followed by a proposal for a new cap on investments by such foreign state-owned companies.
Also at stake are decisions about the timetable and structure of a long-awaited initial public offering of state coal assets in a company called Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi Co., which the government hopes will be valued at around $9 billion. Miner Rio Tinto PLC is waiting for Mongolian politicians to decide how to provide electric power to its massive copper and gold production base, named Oyu Tolgoi.
Write to James T. Areddy at james.areddy@wsj.com
Enkhbayar Nambarwas jailed last month on allegations he illegally profited while in office. Last week, a judge extended the detention two months, until days before June 28 parliamentary elections in which Mr. Enkhbayar planned to run.
Mr. Enkhbayar on Friday sent messages to supporters gathered outside the prison in which he pledged to protest his detention by ingesting only liquids, according to his attorney and family members. They said they've had only limited access to the 53-year-old, and worry that his health his failing.
In Mongolia's short 22 years of democracy, Mr. Enkhbayar has been president, prime minister and parliament speaker, a résumé his supporters and foreign analysts say makes him a formidable political threat to sitting politicians, including his bitterest rival, President Elbegdorj Tsakhia. Mr. Enkhbayar recently formed a new political party and planned himself to contest one of the 76 seats in the parliament, which would give him a platform from which to campaign in next year's presidential elections.
"The only way to stop him was to detain him," said Enkhbayer Batshugar, his 25-year-old son.
His detention was ordered by Mongolia's Independent Agency Against Corruption, which last month alleged Mr. Enkhbayar profited illegally while holding public office, including on the sale of a hotel and misuse of donations to a Buddhist charity. Mr. Enkhbayar, dragged out of his house by riot police on live television on April 13, hasn't appeared in court or been formally charged.
"All the charges are false and politically motivated," said the former president's lawyer, O. Baasankhuu, speaking by telephone through a family interpreter.
Government officials ignored numerous requests to comment.
Political analysts say the timing of the corruption allegations against Mr. Enkhbayar strongly suggests a link to his effort to return to public life. In an open letter last week, a group of Mongolian lawyers described the former president as a "political prisoner."
Mark C. Minton, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mongolia between 2006 and 2009, said the treatment of Mr. Engkbayar is "not only an image problem. That's a problem for the credibility of the rule of law in Mongolia."
Election season in historically nomadic Mongolia is often disorderly. In the previous parliamentary election, in 2008, deadly riots followed allegations the tally was rigged. The fallout was a factor in Mr. Enkhbayar's own loss to Mr. Elbegdorj in presidential elections the following year.
The two—both intellectuals, educated abroad and fluent in English—have long-running differences. Mr. Enkhbayar recently formed a new party and in the past was the leader of a conservative socialist party that traced its roots to Mongolia's Soviet era. The current president, Mr. Elbegdorj, is the product of a party that came to power rallying pro-democracy street demonstrations. Last November he reconstituted the leadership of the six-year-old corruption watchdog that later ordered his rival's detention.
A big source of political tension today is how to distribute the wealth from the country's mining boom among 2.8 million Mongolians. Economic growth is expected to top 17% in 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund, for the second year in a row.
Issues include defining the role of foreign participants. With the parliamentary election looming, the government has pushed back against foreign investment in the sector, suspending some mining licenses for Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd.,1878.HK -1.04% after Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. ACH -3.71% offered about $900 million last month for a controlling stake in the company. A smaller, unrelated deal by the Chinese company a few weeks later was followed by a proposal for a new cap on investments by such foreign state-owned companies.
Also at stake are decisions about the timetable and structure of a long-awaited initial public offering of state coal assets in a company called Erdenes-Tavan Tolgoi Co., which the government hopes will be valued at around $9 billion. Miner Rio Tinto PLC is waiting for Mongolian politicians to decide how to provide electric power to its massive copper and gold production base, named Oyu Tolgoi.
Write to James T. Areddy at james.areddy@wsj.com
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