Mongolia’s prime minister blames the president for coveted protests

The Mongolian prime minister resigned a day after protests erupted against his government’s Covid-19 control measures in the capital Ulaanbaatar.

Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa submitted his resignation and a proposal to dissolve his government on Thursday after hundreds of people gathered in front of the parliament building to protest against the policies. Parliament, which is controlled by Khurelsukh’s Mongolian People’s Party, voted overwhelmingly Thursday to accept his resignation.

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 his shock at Khurelsukh’s statements in a separate speech.

“I wonder and wonder why the Mongolian prime minister did an act that undermined the confidence of the Mongolian people, undermined national unity and openly slandered the Mongolian president,” Battulga said, according to a transcript on the site presidential website.

Protests erupted after a video appeared to show a mother receiving a hasty discharge from a local maternity wardrobe with a bathrobe because she had tested positive for the coronavirus and it was spread on the internet. Protesters rushed to parliament to protest his treatment on Wednesday, some only wearing bathrobes and slippers to show solidarity with the woman.

Although the protests were not unusually extensive, they lasted well into the winter night, where temperatures can drop as low as -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit). Protesters said they were more annoyed with the extended closures and traffic restrictions, as well as the ban on cross-border travel.

The vast country of 3.3 million people – nestled between Russia and China – has so far avoided the massive outbreaks of coronavirus that have worried other people. Mongolia has recorded fewer than 1,600 infections since March, with 526 active cases as of Thursday.

(It adds the resignation accepted by the legislators in the third paragraph)