P.Ochirbat: Our homeland is a place for every Mongolian
The first President of Mongolia P.Ochirbat has given an interview to Undesnii Shuudan daily newspaper. Below is the translation.
-Mongolians recently celebrated the Lunar Year Holiday. How was your Lunar Year Holiday for your family and how was the State Traditional Greeting?
-The Lunar Year Holiday of Mongolia is a nationwide holiday with great symbolic meaning. As I am an elder, so many people, including family members, relatives, friends and young people came to my home to have a traditional greeting during the holiday.
When I was President, there were two kinds of traditional greetings we exercised. The one where Parliament members and high-rnking officials go to Parliament House and the other one that takes place in the President Palace where government members, political party leaders and Khamba (high ranking monk) visit. We still adhere to this tradition.
-Parliament’s senior authorities partook in the traditional greeting with senior citizens in Parliament House during the Lunar Year Holiday. When did this traditional custom start?
-We can say that it dates from 1990. The holiday is for respecting the elderly and making youngsters happy. In recent years, people started giving gifts that are domestically made.
In our family, we gave gifts of traditional cookies to young people who visited our home during the Lunar Year Holiday.
-Do you have lot of grand nephews and nieces?
-I have four grand nieces. All of them are grown-ups now. Three of them study abroad, one in Beijing, one in Saint-Petersburg, and one in Germany. I have little time to spend with my family, but compared to the past, it is enough.
-March 1st was Patriot’s Day. As a citizen of Mongolia, what do you think of this Day?
-All Mongolians are patriots. We should not say some of them are patriots and some of them are not. Our homeland is a place for every Mongolian. The homeland is not the property of a political party of any kind.
Our country is developing. Now we need to protect the development of our country with economic
development. Every Mongolian should work hard towards economic development.
-Our economy is competitive and developing today. Do you ever think, “If I were President now, I would have done this or that?”
-When I talk about that, some people say to me, “Why did you not do all of that when you were President for nine years?” When I was President, our country’s main mission or goal was to shift into a different social system with peace and in a peaceful way. The period was hard for Mongolia as we were shifting into a different social system and politically.
-Every person today is talking about Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi. You do not really speak about this. Why not?
-In contrast, I am one of the people who talks a lot about this. But I do not argue. As a person whose profession is a mining engineer, I talk about this professionally.
I tried my best since 1972 to have Tavan Tolgoi operating. Starting in 1990, every time I went abroad, I talked about having Tavan Tolgoi put into operation. I discussed this with George Bush, Boris Yeltsin and so on. I raised issues about this to N.Enkhbayar (the third President of Mongolia), but it was not solved.
-What was the reason?
-At the time, Mongolia had a bad relationship with China. The main issue at the time was exporting coking coal to Europe. Although today we are producing coal, we have no railway to transport it. These kinds of issues need to be solved as soon as possible. But they are not solving the issue as they should.
-As a mining professional, can you tell us your perspective of Oyu Tolgoi?
-It is not time to talk about this. Mongolia will get its profit through tax. The tax will go into the State Budget and in turn, this means that it will be allocated to the people of Mongolia. How it is going to be allocated is another problem. Let’s say it is going to be used for 35 to 40 years, our pure profit will be USD 15 billion.
52% of this belongs to Mongolia.
-You have worked as Member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. It has been 20 years since the new Constitutional Law was passed.
-I was nominated as a member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia back in 2004. And I accepted the offer and was appointed as a member. In 2010, I was appointed again.
Constitutional Law is the creation of collaboration between the State and people of Mongolia. People say that the Constitutional Law of Mongolia is just copied from other countries.
But the Constitutional Law of every country is based on the King of England John’s Magna Carta Libertum and some of them are even reflected on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.
Human rights and freedom are the common interests of all people around the world. It does not mean we duplicated it 100%.
The Constitutional Court is still working towards paying attention to the implementation of law and solving disagreements by investigating them.
-Who is replacing the Chairman of Tsets (the Constitutional Court of Mongolia)?
-Deputy Chairman Jantsan of Tsets is taking the position. Now there are eight of us. If we replace the one vacancy, we can choose the Chairman among the members by vote. We all are waiting for it to be filled.
-How does State Great Khural receive the decisions made by Tsets?
-If the State Great Khural does not accept our decision, Tsets will examine it again and make a decision.
-Some of the clauses of the Election Law are said to violate the Constitutional Law of Mongolia.
-We are addressing this. I cannot say what the decision will be. The majority of members of Tsets make the final decision of Tsets.
-We heard that you also work as a professor at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.
-Yes, I do. I work as a consultant professor in the School of Mining Engineering. I teach graduate and post-graduate students.
-As a person who was the first President of Mongolia, do people treat you differently?
-Whether old or young, they treat me very well. I assumed young people would not recognize me, but they do. I am an uninhibited person. When I was President, I would stay over at a random family when I went to rural areas.
-Did you manage to go to your hometown this winter?
-I was born in Zavkhan Province. I go to my hometown in summer with my spouse and we go to her hometown in summer as well. Zavkhan is far, so it is a bit difficult to go to my hometown during winter. But I am always close to my hometown in my heart.
-Mongolians recently celebrated the Lunar Year Holiday. How was your Lunar Year Holiday for your family and how was the State Traditional Greeting?
-The Lunar Year Holiday of Mongolia is a nationwide holiday with great symbolic meaning. As I am an elder, so many people, including family members, relatives, friends and young people came to my home to have a traditional greeting during the holiday.
When I was President, there were two kinds of traditional greetings we exercised. The one where Parliament members and high-rnking officials go to Parliament House and the other one that takes place in the President Palace where government members, political party leaders and Khamba (high ranking monk) visit. We still adhere to this tradition.
-Parliament’s senior authorities partook in the traditional greeting with senior citizens in Parliament House during the Lunar Year Holiday. When did this traditional custom start?
-We can say that it dates from 1990. The holiday is for respecting the elderly and making youngsters happy. In recent years, people started giving gifts that are domestically made.
In our family, we gave gifts of traditional cookies to young people who visited our home during the Lunar Year Holiday.
-Do you have lot of grand nephews and nieces?
-I have four grand nieces. All of them are grown-ups now. Three of them study abroad, one in Beijing, one in Saint-Petersburg, and one in Germany. I have little time to spend with my family, but compared to the past, it is enough.
-March 1st was Patriot’s Day. As a citizen of Mongolia, what do you think of this Day?
-All Mongolians are patriots. We should not say some of them are patriots and some of them are not. Our homeland is a place for every Mongolian. The homeland is not the property of a political party of any kind.
Our country is developing. Now we need to protect the development of our country with economic
development. Every Mongolian should work hard towards economic development.
-Our economy is competitive and developing today. Do you ever think, “If I were President now, I would have done this or that?”
-When I talk about that, some people say to me, “Why did you not do all of that when you were President for nine years?” When I was President, our country’s main mission or goal was to shift into a different social system with peace and in a peaceful way. The period was hard for Mongolia as we were shifting into a different social system and politically.
-Every person today is talking about Oyu Tolgoi and Tavan Tolgoi. You do not really speak about this. Why not?
-In contrast, I am one of the people who talks a lot about this. But I do not argue. As a person whose profession is a mining engineer, I talk about this professionally.
I tried my best since 1972 to have Tavan Tolgoi operating. Starting in 1990, every time I went abroad, I talked about having Tavan Tolgoi put into operation. I discussed this with George Bush, Boris Yeltsin and so on. I raised issues about this to N.Enkhbayar (the third President of Mongolia), but it was not solved.
-What was the reason?
-At the time, Mongolia had a bad relationship with China. The main issue at the time was exporting coking coal to Europe. Although today we are producing coal, we have no railway to transport it. These kinds of issues need to be solved as soon as possible. But they are not solving the issue as they should.
-As a mining professional, can you tell us your perspective of Oyu Tolgoi?
-It is not time to talk about this. Mongolia will get its profit through tax. The tax will go into the State Budget and in turn, this means that it will be allocated to the people of Mongolia. How it is going to be allocated is another problem. Let’s say it is going to be used for 35 to 40 years, our pure profit will be USD 15 billion.
52% of this belongs to Mongolia.
-You have worked as Member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. It has been 20 years since the new Constitutional Law was passed.
-I was nominated as a member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia back in 2004. And I accepted the offer and was appointed as a member. In 2010, I was appointed again.
Constitutional Law is the creation of collaboration between the State and people of Mongolia. People say that the Constitutional Law of Mongolia is just copied from other countries.
But the Constitutional Law of every country is based on the King of England John’s Magna Carta Libertum and some of them are even reflected on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.
Human rights and freedom are the common interests of all people around the world. It does not mean we duplicated it 100%.
The Constitutional Court is still working towards paying attention to the implementation of law and solving disagreements by investigating them.
-Who is replacing the Chairman of Tsets (the Constitutional Court of Mongolia)?
-Deputy Chairman Jantsan of Tsets is taking the position. Now there are eight of us. If we replace the one vacancy, we can choose the Chairman among the members by vote. We all are waiting for it to be filled.
-How does State Great Khural receive the decisions made by Tsets?
-If the State Great Khural does not accept our decision, Tsets will examine it again and make a decision.
-Some of the clauses of the Election Law are said to violate the Constitutional Law of Mongolia.
-We are addressing this. I cannot say what the decision will be. The majority of members of Tsets make the final decision of Tsets.
-We heard that you also work as a professor at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.
-Yes, I do. I work as a consultant professor in the School of Mining Engineering. I teach graduate and post-graduate students.
-As a person who was the first President of Mongolia, do people treat you differently?
-Whether old or young, they treat me very well. I assumed young people would not recognize me, but they do. I am an uninhibited person. When I was President, I would stay over at a random family when I went to rural areas.
-Did you manage to go to your hometown this winter?
-I was born in Zavkhan Province. I go to my hometown in summer with my spouse and we go to her hometown in summer as well. Zavkhan is far, so it is a bit difficult to go to my hometown during winter. But I am always close to my hometown in my heart.
Comments
Post a Comment