Mongolia’s prime minister resigned a day after protests against his government’s Covid-19 control measures erupted in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa submitted his resignation and proposal to dissolve his government on Thursday after hundreds gathered in front of the parliament building to protest against the policies. Parliament, which is controlled by the Mongolian People’s Party in Khurelsukh, voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to accept his resignation.
Photographer: Mikhail Klimentyev / AP Photo
In a speech on Thursday, the prime minister accused President Battulga Khaltmaa of the rival Democratic Party of orchestrating the protests. Battulga, whose term expires later this year, expressed shock at Khurelsukh’s remarks in a separate speech.
“I wonder and wonder why the Prime Minister of Mongolia made such an act that undermined the confidence of the Mongolian people, undermined national unity and openly slandered the President of Mongolia,” Battulga said, according to a transcript on the presidential website. .
The protests erupted after a video showing a mother being rushed to a local maternity hospital in a bathrobe because she tested positive for coronavirus was widely circulated online. Protesters gathered in parliament on Wednesday to protest her treatment, with some wearing bathrobes and slippers to show solidarity with the woman.
While the protests were not unusually large, they lasted until the winter night, where temperatures can drop to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit). Protesters said they were more upset with extensive roadblocks and traffic restrictions, as well as a ban on cross-border travel.
The vast country of 3.3 million people – with no access to the sea between Russia and China – has so far avoided the outbreaks of mass coronavirus that have disturbed others. Mongolia has reported less than 1,600 infections since March, with 526 cases active since Thursday.
(The resignation accepted by the parliamentarians in the third paragraph is added)