2016 Mongolian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Mongolia on 29 June 2016. The governing Democratic Party lost to a landslide victory of the Mongolian People's Party, retaining only nine of 76 seats in the State Great Khural.
Although the DP's vote share was down by just two percentage points, a new electoral law promoting a two-party system was passed by the party while in government, which allowed the MPP vote share to rise by around 14 percentage points. The DP lost 22 out of their previous 31 seats in the State Great Khural. As a result, the MPP secured a supermajority with 65 of 76 seats.
Electoral system
In the 2012 elections, the 76 members of the State Great Khural were elected by a parallel system; 48 were elected from single-member constituencies and 28 from a nationwide constituency by proportional representation. However, on 5 May 2016, the electoral law was amended to remove the proportional representation seats. The changes were expected to marginalise smaller parties, and also removed the right of 150,000 Mongolian expatriates to vote, as they could not be registered in a specific constituency.All 76 seats of the State Great Khural were to be elected from 76 single-member constituencies. The winning candidate had to receive at least 28% of the valid votes to be elected; if not, a by-election would be held. Voter turnout had to be at least 50% in a constituency for the result to be valid.
Campaign
Pre-election composition
Prior to the election, the outgoing 6th State Greal Khural initially had three political parties, one coalition, and three independents in 2012. By June 2016, the number of parties in parliament increased to six with the foundation of the Sovereignty and Unity Party and the breakdown of the Justice Coalition.Contesting parties
On April 30th, a total of 13 parties and 3 coalitions submitted their materials to the General Election Commission to participate in the elections. The [Mongolian National Democratic Party (Mongolia)|Democratic Party (2005)|Mongolian National Democratic Party], which was part of the Justice Coalition with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and part of the government coalition, did not contest the election and instead formally supported the DP. Alongwith the MNDP, the Motherland Party also stated it will endorse the DP to the GEC.The Civil Will–Green Party, which won two seats in 2012 and was part of the government coalition, was barred from running due to irregularities in its paperwork on May 3. The newly formed National Labour Party was also prevented from running, with its leader, Surenkhuugiin Borgil, standing as an independent instead. The CWGP was later reinstated on the parliamentary ballot on June 7 and the regional election ballot on June 9 via a Supreme Court decision.
12 parties and 3 coalitions were approved by the GEC to contest the elections. A total of 498 candidates registered to contest the elections, with the Democratic Party and Mongolian People's Party being the only parties to contest all 76 seats. Out of the 498 candidates, 69 of them were independents.
Opinion polls
Opinion polls conducted by the Sant Maral Foundation and the MEC Barometer suggested that around half of Mongolian voters were undecided about whom to vote for in the 2016 election. The MPP was expected to win a small plurality over the DP, whilst the MPRP was predicted to come third. A survey, conducted by the Sant Maral Foundation in March 2016, revealed that it was likely for the National Labour Party to win a seat with around 5% polling in Ulaanbaatar and 3.4% nationwide.Results
The opposition Mongolian People's Party won a supermajority of 65 seats, whilst the governing Democratic Party retained only 9 of its previous 34 seats. Incumbent prime minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg and party chairman, parliamentary speaker Zandaakhüügiin Enkhbold were among the unseated Democratic Party MPs. The Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and independent, popular folk singer Samadyn Javkhlan each won a single seat in the State Great Khural.
The 239 votes cast for the MPRP candidate in constituency 11 and the 595 votes cast for an independent candidate in constituency 58 were annulled.