Coup Time!
On Tuesday, at the Urgoo Maternity Hospital in UB, a Mom and her newborn baby got a positive Covid test result. They were hustled to an ambulance to be transfered to an ambulance to take them to a Covid Quarantine facility. Which involved a walk by Mom holding baby, just wrapped in light hospital blankets, and wearing sandals, of about 15 meters through the freezing night from door to ambulance.
Conveniently carried live on TV for reasons best understood in the context of post-Soviet political theatre. The President then ginned up and helped finance some hot-headed demonstrations and outrage, and like dominoes resignations of the health facility staff, then the Covid and health authority bosses, then the Health Minister, followed in short order by the Prime Minister and his whole Cabinet. A government which had just been formed in August 2020.
So looks like the President is consolidating greater power over parliament and cabinet. Right as they jockey with Rio and TRQ over their largest economic project and future cashflow generator in OT and their move to reform it’s ownership structure. Coincidence? There are no coincidences in Mongolian politics ... flies fly to honey.
Is it good or is it bad? A consolidation and alignment of power at this time is probably good as it will take some discipline and willpower to make the agreements demanded by Rio in time Tom prevent the crisis of an OT shutdown of the undercut schedule by May.
Lets see how quickly our hot-headed friends can reform a new government and Prime Minister.
Yours truly was Kyoto watching a chef working yakisoba on the flattop a few years back. HE had on a t-shirt with names of famous Japanese thoroubreds. “You like to bet on the horses?” I asked. Will never forget his response: “Oh yes, very much. But money say ‘bye-bye’! Familiar feeling this past two weeks feeling the beat-down. In some respects be happy we are not alone among the juniors. May be time for the bold to step in and catch some nicely discounted paper pretty soon.
If you dare!
cg