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UNCLAS ULAANBAATAR 000321 
 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, EAP/PD, DRL AND IIP/EAP 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV OPRC KDEM KMDR KPAO MG
SUBJECT: MONGOLIAN MEDIA'S RUN-UP TO PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 
 
REFTEL: ULAANBAATAR 320 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In the last few days before Mongolia's  June 29 
Parliamentary elections, the local media organizations continued to 
focus on political mud-slinging by parties and criticism of the 
General Election Commission (GEC).  Prime fodder in the press and on 
TV has been recent promises made by the country's two biggest 
parties regarding how to spread the wealth generated from 
yet-to-be-developed mining.  Those parties, the ruling Mongolian 
People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the opposition Democratic 
Party (DP), appear to receive a disproportionate amount of press 
coverage.  A newly established GEC Media Council is monitoring the 
balance of coverage and working to resolve media-related disputes. 
End Summary. 
 
Conflicting Reports on Coverage Balance 
--------------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU)  The Mongolian Press Institute recently stated that this 
election year has featured more balanced coverage of parties, but a 
recent report released by a media watchdog, the Global Institute 
(GI), says the two biggest parties - the MPRP and the DP -- are 
getting the lion's share of media attention.  According to the GI 
report, both the MPRP and the DP are receiving more than twice the 
amount of coverage given to any smaller party.  A final, official 
report on this issue is to be released by GI after the elections. 
(Note: All 76 seats in Parliament are up for grabs in the elections. 
 Each voter in 26 districts (20 in the provinces and six in 
Ulaanbaatar) will choose between two and four candidates, depending 
on the size of their district.  End Note.) 
 
Newspapers Focusing on Attacks and Accusations 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Mongolia's political parties, rarely shy during the 
election season, are providing plenty of ammunition for the media to 
report on, and newspapers in particular have taken the bait.  The 
vast majority of recent articles have focused not on policies or 
platforms, but on accusations and innuendo involving the parties and 
the GEC.  (Note: Many parties have accused the GEC of pro-MPRP bias; 
seven of the nine commissioners are affiliated with the MPRP.  End 
Note.)  Some papers opted to  on the tit-for-tat actions by the 
competing parties.  After the MPRP demanded the dismissal of the 
GEC's DP-affiliated Secretary General, the Mongolian Medee newspaper 
ran the headline, "The DP sends a letter of demand to the MPRP 
related to its demand to dismiss the GEC Secretary General." 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Several recent articles have been aimed at sparking a 
scandal, or discrediting a candidate.  The Ardyn Erkh daily ran a 
front-page story on MPRP candidate S. Bayarmunkh titled, "How much 
does it cost to blackmail a constituency?" (Note: Bayarmunkh is 
believed to be the owner of two TV channels and two newspapers.  End 
Note.)  Other articles have appeared to support candidates by 
assigning credit to politicians for alleged accomplishments.  Zuuny 
Medee recently credited candidate D. Nyamhuu with "saving the 
children's playground" in a city district. 
 
The Big Issue: Mongolia's Natural Resources 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Mongolia's media have, however, generally taken a higher 
road in covering the important and controversial issue of Mongolia's 
natural resources, and how to distribute the gains from them.  In 
response to the DP's platform of "treasure sharing," the MPRP 
promised 1.5 million Tugruks ($1,290) for every citizen under the 
slogan, "the country's profit."  This was not contained in the 
MPRP's platform, leading critics to call it a violation of the 
Election Law.  This allegation, and counter-allegations, led to 
conflicting news reports; some pinned the blame on the MPRP, while 
others rallied to the MPRP's defense. 
 
TV Attacks and Advertisements 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  This campaign season, Mongolia's usually staid domestic TV 
programming has been a virtual battleground for political parties 
and their proxies.  On June 26, the leaders of the MPRP and DP held 
their first and only debate of the campaign.  (See reftel.) 
Initially, the debate was to be held on Mongolian National 
Television.  But the GEC warned that if the public broadcaster were 
to air the debate, it would be a violation of the Election Law 
provision requiring equal public airtime for all parties and 
candidates.  In the end, the debate was aired on commercial TV. 
¶7. (SBU)  The parties have moved beyond mere attack and support ads 
to influence voting habits.  As reported in Odriin Sonin, the Civil 
Will Party sent a letter to the GEC demanding a stop to an ad, which 
shows voters circling candidates from the same political party 
(6/16).  Recent support ads have run the gimlet from adoration of a 
candidate to more subtle attempts to portray a candidate as closely 
tied to Mongolian traditions. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  The MPRP has even resorted to the music video as a form of 
campaigning: The video features citizens in Chinggis Khan-era 
traditional clothing and military garb, singing the praises of their 
motherland.  A plethora of traditional Mongolian rituals and 
objects, such as calligraphy, abound as the MPRP logo and name 
appears as a watermark on the screen. 
 
Advertising in the Capital 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  In addition to the continued use of campaign trucks and 
Mongolian gers to disseminate party advisements, there has been an 
increase in canvassers filling the streets.  These volunteers can be 
found outside grocery stores and in high pedestrian traffic areas 
handing out flyers and pamphlets. There have been reports of 
anonymous distribution of campaign literature.  As the Odriin Sonin 
reports, voters from one city district received materials featuring 
photos of three candidates from three different parties. "None of 
the political parties admits to distributing this material" (6/19). 
 
 
¶10. (SBU)  In the weeks before the election, commercial billboards 
were hard to find as ever more campaign billboards filled the 
streets.  Examples of candidate slogans on these signs include 
"Peace, Not War", "Together", and "Right Ideas, Right Choice." 
Despite early restraint by the parties, they have been unable to 
resist using the promise of money as an adverting strategy.  After 
the DP flooded towns in 2004 with posters displaying a baby holding 
a ten thousand Tugruks bill (promising as much for every child), 
they have since upped the ante, according to critics.  DP posters 
promise 1 million Tugruks for every citizen from the development of 
Mongolian's mining resources. "Certificates" bearing the MPRP logo, 
a Chinggis Khan image from the Mongolian 20,000 Tugruk bill, and two 
smiling Mongolians have been circulating. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  The parties have rolled out their true secret weapons in 
recent advertisement campaigns, using famous Mongolian celebrities 
and pop stars to drum up support.  This appears to be following the 
strategy followed by one successful candidate in 2004, whose 
campaign poster featured him alongside Mongolian's most famous sumo 
wrestlers. 
 
Establishment of the Media Council 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU)  As reported in the Unen newspaper, the GEC has 
established a Media Council to track the balance of election 
coverage by the media.  According to a  Ordiin Sonin article on June 
20, "The main purpose of the Media Council is to monitor the 
equality of the candidates' media coverage, review complaints and 
make recommendations to the GEC following the election". Following 
the 2004 election, there were calls from watchdog NGOs such as Globe 
Institute for the creation of such a council. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU)  In the final week before the elections, , the candidates 
and parties are used available means to cast their opponents in a 
negative light.  The media has closely reported these fights, but 
has also made the debate over Mongolia's natural resources a central 
issue.  Nevertheless, the parties are primarily using advertising 
and promises to sway votes, rather than emphasizing specific 
policies and platforms.  Nonetheless, citizens' intense interest and 
participation is generally a healthy sign regarding Mongolia's 
democratic development and commitment to free elections.  End 
Comment. 
 
MINTON