Mongolia Communists May Give Up Monopoly on Power

A senior Mongolian official strongly hinted Friday that the ruling Communist Party may relinquish its 66-year monopoly on power as a democratic group prepares to form the nation’s first opposition party.

Byraagiin Chimed also told journalists that Mongolia’s public prosecutor would launch an investigation into alleged abuses of power by former President Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal--a close associate of his successor, Jambyn Batmonh.

The Mongolian Democratic Assn. (MDA) is due to hold its first congress Sunday, at which it is widely expected to proclaim the nation’s first opposition party.

The MDA has held five mass rallies in the capital since last December, drawing thousands of people wrapped in fur and padded gowns against the extreme cold.

“In the past, democracy in state bodies was not enough,” Chimed, head of the Presidium of the People’s Great Hural (parliament) told a news conference of foreign and local journalists.

He said the constitution of Mongolia’s Communist Party is being rewritten and a final draft will be ready for ratification in June.

The constitution has no mechanism for recognizing political opposition groups; it says only the Communist Party may rule.

Mongolia, located between China and the Soviet Union, is the second oldest Communist state. Many of Mongolia’s 2 million people are nomadic herdsmen and half the population of Ulan Bator lives in tents, without electricity or running water.

Speakers at the rallies of the Mongolian Democratic Assn. have railed against government mishandling of the economy. Meat, milk and butter are in short supply despite 22 million head of livestock.