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Gombojavyn Zandanshatar
Prime Minister of Mongolia since 2025 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gombojavyn Zandanshatar (Mongolian: Гомбожавын Занданшатар; born 8 March 1970) is a Mongolian politician who has been the 32nd prime minister of Mongolia since June 2025.[1] A member of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), he served as a member and chairman of the State Great Khural from 2019 until he lost reelection in 2024.
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Born in Baatsagaan, Zandanshatar joined politics in 2003 and became the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture and served until 2004, when he was elected to the State Great Khural in the 2004 parliamentary election. In 2009, Zandanshatar became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and served in this role until 2012, when he stood down from active politics in the 2012 parliamentary election. He returned to politics in 2016.[2]
In February 2019, Zandanshatar was elected the Chairman of the State Great Khural and served in this role until 2024, when he lost reelection. In June 2025, Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene lost a confidence vote and immediately resigned following mass youth-led protests against his government for corruption. Zandanshatar was then nominated prime minister by President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh to succeed Oyun-Erdene and was officially confirmed by the State Great Khural two days later on 12 June. He was officially appointed the following day on 13 June.
Zandanshatar was voted to be ousted by the State Great Khural with 71 votes out of 111 on 17 October 2025.[3][4] He was set to become the shortest-serving prime minister in modern Mongolian history.[5] However, President Khürelsükh vetoed the motion on October 20, citing procedural errors. Three days later, the Constitutional Court ruled that the parliamentary vote was unconstitutional.[6][7]
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Early life and education
Gombojav Zandanshatar was born in Baatsagaan, Mongolia, on 8 March 1970.[8][9] He graduated from the 77th secondary school in 1987, Irkutsk State University with a degree in financial economics after attending from 1987 to 1992,[8] Maastricht University with a master's degree,[9] and Russian State University of Natural Resources and Law in 2012.[8][2]
Career
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Academic and banking
At the University of Finance and Economics Zandanshatar was a researcher in the Market Business Research Centre from 1992 to 1995. During Zandanshatar's banking career he worked at Agricultural Bank from 1995 to 1998, was deputy director at Khan Bank from 2000 to 2003, and Bank of Mongolia.[2][10] From 2014 to 2016, he was a visiting scholar at Stanford University.[1] He was chair of the Mongolian Chess Federation.[8]
State Great Khural
In the 2004 parliamentary election, Zandanshatar was elected to the State Great Khural. From 2003 to 2004, Zandanshatar was Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture of Mongolia. From 2009 to 2012, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.[11] He served as Cabinet Secretariat of Government of Mongolia from 2017 to 2019.[2]
In 2016, he returned to politics and was elected as member of parliament (MP) for the third time. He served as the secretary-general of the Mongolian People's Party from 2012 to 2013. During his tenure in the State Great Khural, he was chairman of the State Great Khural from 2019 to 2024.[2] He lost reelection in the 2024 elections[1] and subsequently served as Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Mongolia until June 2025.[12]
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Prime Minister of Mongolia
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Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned on 3 June 2025, in response to anti-government protests regarding the lavish spending of his son and after losing a motion of no confidence.[13] Zandanshatar was selected by a vote of 108 to 9 to replace Oyun-Erdene on 12 June.[1] He was appointed as the 32nd Prime Minister of Mongolia the next day.
On 18 June, a coalition government was formed between the Mongolian People's Party, the HUN Party and the Civil Will–Green Party.[14] The Democratic Party, the main opposition in parliament, was expelled from the previous coalition government for "breaking the memorandum of understanding" amidst the 2025 protests.[15] A total of 19 ministers were appointed, a slight decrease from Oyun-Erdene's second cabinet which had 22 ministers.[16]
Economy
After assuming the office of the Prime Minister, Zandanshatar stated that the 2025 budget approved by Oyun-Erdene's government needed to be reduced by $640 million.[17] The 2025 government budget became one of the costliest budgets to be approved by the State Great Khural in Mongolia's modern history. President Khürelsükh vetoed the 2025 budget in November 2024 and urged parliament to approve a deficit-free budget. The government immediately became unpopular among the public in the first half of the year due to fiscal deficit and ultimately led to the downfall of Oyun-Erdene's tenure. Budget austerity became the primary concern of Zandanshatar's government.[16][18]
Zandanshatar claimed his government cut ₮2.3 trillion MNT from the budget in July, allegedly turning the looming deficit into a surplus.[19] The foreign exchange reserves hit $5.7 billion USD and GDP growth rose from 2.4% to 5.6%. This growth is however contributed more by Mongolia's rising copper export, which accounted 37.6% of total exports in the first 8 months of 2025.[20][21]
Party turmoil
Tensions between internal factions in the ruling Mongolian People's Party began to brew in early 2025 after the resignation of Oyun-Erdene. Oyun-Erdene's reformist faction, which included Chairman of the State Great Khural Dashzegviin Amarbayasgalan, advocated for the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund and a reduction in debt- and commodity-driven economy, which in turn provoked opposition from powerful business interests.[22] The majority of the MPP sided against Oyun-Erdene, including President Khürelsükh. Zandanshatar, a conservative with deep ties to Mongolia's mining elite, was nominated by Khürelsükh to succeed Oyun-Erdene as the next prime minister.[23]
On September 27-28, during the eighth session of the MPP, factional disputes, ideological differences, and generational divides arose between Zandanshatar and Speaker Amarbayasgalan. During the chairmanship election, neither Zandanshatar nor Amarbayasgalan met the required two-thirds majority, both securing 56.1% and 44% of the vote, respectively. Zandanshatar and his allies boycotted the second round in which Amarbayasgalan won 257 out of the 321 votes. The party chairman was to become the prime minister according to the MPP rule; thereby, a confirmation of Amarbayasgalan's election by the Supreme Court threatened Zandanshatar's tenure.[23] To secure the office of Prime Minister, Zandanshatar proposed to establish a dual leadership, to which Amarbayasgalan declined and condemned him as "undemocratic".[24][25]
Zandanshatar accused Amarbayasgalan of being involved in the coal theft scandal and appointed Battumuriin Enkhbayar as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs to investigate Amarbayasgalan.[26] Subsequently, the party revoked Enkhbayar's membership. In the ensuing chaos, seven MPP lawmakers threatened to leave the party if the decision was not reversed.[27]
Along with the resignation of Speaker Amarbayasgalan, Zandanshatar was dismissed as Prime Minister, with 40 votes supporting him and 71 opposing, after a parliamentary vote on 17 October 2025. His tenure lasted for 125 days, which made him the shortest-serving prime minister in Mongolia's modern history. He was to remain as caretaker prime minister until a successor was chosen by the President and the State Great Khural within 30 days.[4]
On 20 October 2025, Zandanshatar's removal was vetoed by President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, citing procedural errors.[28] The Constitutional Court of Mongolia ruled on October 23 that the motion passed by the parliament was unconstitutional and had no legal basis.[7] Both the procedural conduct of the parliamentary session and the resolution on the dismissal of Zandanshatar were thereby ruled inconsistent with the constitution.[29] Enkhbayar was officially appointed and inaugurated as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs on October 26.[30] Three days later, First Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyangiin Amarsaikhan (MPP) announced that he would be resigning from the Zandanshatar cabinet, stating that "the current government undermines the foundations of democracy and civil liberties". During a cabinet meeting that day, he was officially dismissed by Zandanshatar for allegedly violating his responsibilities as minister. Amarsaikhan was one of the 71 MPs who voted to dismiss the prime minister on October 17.[31]
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Personal life
Zandanshatar can speak English and Russian.[2] He is married and is the father of four children.[8]
Notes
References
Works cited
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