Freedom House and Corruption

According to freedomhouse.org, Mongolia is 1 of only 5 of the 26 communist and post-communist states considered to be "Free", according to the organization's standards. 7 of the others are "Partly Free" and 14 are considered "Not Free." Freedom House rates countries on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being free and 7 being not free. Mongolia scored both a 2 in the political rights and civil liberties scales. The reason for an increase in ranking (the country was still free but had a lower score in previous years) was due to the successful transfer of power from one president to another.

In 2008, after the MPRP won the majority in parliament, there followed a series of riots against the MPRP headquarters. According to some reports, those arrested in relation to the riots were abused by the police and coerced violently into confessions. All the unrest and uncertainty of the fairness of the elections caused the country's ratings to remain lower, although it was still classified as free. In 2009, however, when the candidate from the Democratic Party, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, won the presidency, the incumbent MPRP president quickly stepped down to avoid any further unrest among the people. International observers agreed that the election was "free and fair." This successful transfer of power, and the fact that the new president was the first to be from a party other than the MPRP, was enough to raise the ratings on Freedom House.

Another reason why the Mongolia is considered free but only scores a 2 instead of a 1, like the

United states which rates a 1 one civil liberty and political freedom, is because of the amount of corruption, not only within government but within households as well. One survey found that 1 in 5 Mongolian households had paid bribes, though the specifics on the survey are not made clear. Corruption is such a big problem, that Mongolia created an agency called the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC).

I think having an agency like the IAAC in Mongolia is a huge step away from the old regime and into the new. With such a high amount of corruption, other countries will have no desire to invest in Mongolia, which will severely hurt their economy. If the country can work to reduce the amount of corruption, then companies will have more faith in the economy and be more likely to invest. This is a huge point considering Mongolia is trying to sell of some of its state owned companies to the private sector. With all the natural resources in Mongolia, it is extremely important that they cash in foreign investment in their companies, or else the people will continue to be steeped in poverty.

I see the elections of 2009 as a huge turning point for Mongolia. Since the collapse of the communist regime, the communist founded MPRP has held the presidency and most often the majority in parliament. A member of the Democratic Party being elected helps show that the MPRP does not hold a monopoly on the government any more and that the country is moving toward more competitive politics. The election being declared as "free and fair" by outside sources shows me that while corruption is still a problem, it has at least declined some in the political arena. If the country wants to have success in selling off its state owned companies and bringing more investors to Mongolia, it will need to prove even further that it has cracked down on corruption.

To look at the Freedom House report on Mongolia click HERE.

The IAAC's website says it it available in English, but only the link are in English and not the actual text, but if you want to look at it anyway click HERE and click the English link in the upper corner.

Too see how Mongolia's corruption level compare to surrounding countries in the Asia Pacific area click HERE.