The present MPRP leadership
came under severe criticism for their several acts of omission and commission
at a meeting on Friday, attended by party members like former President
N.Enkhbayar, and representatives of NGOs and non-official organizations. The
discussion focused on the theme “Reforming MPRP: A step forward or backward”,
and among those attending were MPRP members like Enkhbayar, MP Ts.Shinebayar,
Dr. N. Dashzeveg, the party Secretary, Ts.Sukhbaatar, and people from the New
Development Foundation, a group called Protecting the Core Value of the MPRP,
and an NGO named New Generation Democracy NGO.  

They criticized the Managing
Council of the party for its corruption, especially in land deals, and for not fulfilling
election campaign pledges such as paying MNT1.5 million to each citizen. They
also wanted the issue of changing the party’s name to be decided only at the
next General Assembly and urged that the 801 delegates to the assembly should
be elected in a manner that allows representation to all sections of the party.
They supported reforms but wanted these to be truly “revolutionary” so that
wealthy young people now joining politics as a career are taught the importance
of ideology.

Enkhbayar said ideology was
at the heart of the party, and it cannot be changed without ascertaining the
views of all members. “That is why the general assembly has to be truly
representative. I shall support any move to ensure this,” he said.

Speakers accused the party’s present
management team of neglecting their duty and responsibility, of corruption, of
a bureaucratic mindset, failure to improve people’s life and to implement
pledges, and said the move to change the party’s name and ideology was a ploy
to turn the people’s attention away from economic and social problems. They
said a few people in the party, who have accumulated riches in an improper way,
are trying to push it to the rightist path in secret, abandoning the party’s
commitment to the poor, and hoping the install a dictatorship of the minority.  They wanted the managing structure to be more accountable
to the general members and urged leftist elements in the party to form a
Justice, Solidarity and Freedom Movement to debate the change of the party’s
name and ideology.