ULAN BATOR, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The end of internal conflict of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) could help pave the way to soothe public anger and restore its trust in the government, a political expert said Friday.
The Mongolian parliament on Friday elected Gombojav Zandanshatar as its new speaker after Miyegombo Enkhbold was ousted due to an alleged abuse of power following weeks of public protests.
"The appointment of the new speaker started soothing public anger and restoring their trust in the government," Dashdorj Bayarkhuu, a professor at the Mongolian Diplomatic Academy, told Xinhua, expressing his hope that the former head of the cabinet secretariat will make great efforts to ensure the political stability of the country.
"Political stability is a key factor for any country's development. The government and new speaker of the parliament should work hard to promote the economic growth and improve people's lives by ensuring domestic political stability and fighting against corruption," Bayarkhuu said.
Reports were made public in late October that some members of the Mongolian parliament and government have obtained a number of loans with low interest rates from a fund aimed at small- and medium-sized enterprises by abusing their powers.
Public protests surrounding the fund began in November and continued throughout January after Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh's government survived a vote of no confidence initiated by his own party's lawmakers.
Khurelsukh deflected the criticism related to the fund and accused Enkhbold of corruption. Furthermore, more than half of the lawmakers in the country's 76-seat parliament, most of them from the ruling party, boycotted plenary sessions and meetings of standing committees of the parliament for over six weeks until mid-January, urging Enkhbold to voluntarily step down over alleged conflicts of interest.
