People's Great Khural

The People's Great Khural,^[b] or People's Grand Khural, was the highest organ of state authority of the Mongolian People's Republic from 1951 to 1992.^[1] Based on the Marxist–Leninist principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government and headed the unified state apparatus, similar to that of the Soviet Union. The body was formerly known as the State Great Khural^[c] before its name change following the adoption of the 1960 Constitution.

The People's Great Khural appointed the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the State Prosecutor of the Mongolian People's Republic, as well as elected the Presidium whose chairman served as Mongolia's head of state under the 1940 and 1960 Constitutions.^[2]

Under the 1960 Constitution, the People's Great Khural was defined as the supreme state organ of power in the MPR and was imbued with great lawmaking powers. In practice, however, it was a rubber-stamp parliament that did little more than ratify decisions already made by the MPR's executive organs and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

Prior to 1951, the State Little Khural was the highest organ of state authority until its dissolution in 1951 following a series of constitutional amendments.^[3] This body, however, would be re-established as a standing legislature and lower house of the People's Great Khural in the aftermath of the 1990 Democratic Revolution, acting as the main legislative body from 1990 to 1992.^[4] The short-lived bicameral assemblies were dissolved and succeeded by the unicameral State Great Khural in 1992 after the ratification of a new constitution and the 1992 parliamentary election.^[3]

The People's Great Khural was the highest legislative body in the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) from 1951 to 1992. Prior to 1951, the MPR had a bicameral legislature, the State Little Khural (Mongolian: Улсын Бага Хурал) and State Great Khural (Mongolian: Улсын Их Хурал).

Following the radical constitutional revisions of 1949, which refashioned the State structure of the MPR along Soviet lines, the principle of democratic centralism was recognized as the central concept governing the functioning of the administrative apparatus, just as in the USSR.^[5]

In 1952, the Constitution of the MPR was further amended to follow its Soviet model.^[5] Before the 1952 amendment, the constitution provided for a Little Khural, which was elected by the People’s Great Khural and acted for it when it was not in session. This was similar to the Congress of Soviets (Great Khural), which elected a Central Executive Committee (Little Khural). The 1952 amendment provided that the Great Khural was to meet every year, not every three years as before, and hence there was no justification for a Little Khural, which had met annually. The Little Khural was dissolved, and the Great Khural succeeded and functioned as the nominal supreme organ of state power according to the amended 1940 Mongolian Constitution. The size of the Presidium - seven members - was kept the same, with a chairman, a deputy chairman, a secretary, and four other presidium members. This streamlining followed a broader trend in 1952, when the organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was simplified by merging the Politburo and Orgburo into a Presidium and eliminating the Party Conference of the USSR. The Council of Ministers, a body responsible to the Great Khural or, between sessions, to its Presidium, had its duties unchanged.^[6]

In 1960, a new constitution was ratified. The 1960 Constitution outlined a new state government structure different from that of 1940 and renamed the State Great Khural the People's Great Khural.^[5] The People's Great Khural, similar to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, was theoretically the highest authority in the MPR,^[7] but in practice it usually rubber-stamped decisions made by the MPRP and the Politburo.

In the aftermath of the 1990 Democratic Revolution, the People's Great Khural became a more genuine parliamentary body following a series of amendments to the constitution in mid 1990. A new, smaller working legislature, called the State Little Khural, was established and elected from the People's Great Khural after the June 1990 elections, transferring most of its executive and legislative powers to the Little Khural. Between late 1990 and 1992, the Great Khural acted as a representative body, with its last session being held in late 1991,^[3] months before the convention of the unicameral State Great Khural.

The People's Great Khural had authority to:^[3]

• Enact laws and amend the Constitution of the Mongolian People's Republic
• Elect the Presidium of the People's Great Khural, which acted as a collective head of state between sessions.
• Appoint the Council of Ministers (executive branch).
• Ratify international treaties and approve economic plans.

The khural usually meets two to three times annually to receive reports from the Council of Ministers and to enact laws. While its not in session, the Presidium carries the duties of the People's Great Khural.^[7]

In 1944, the Mongolian People's Republic, through a decree of the Presidium of the Little Khural, amended Article 71 to grant electoral rights to all, except "the insane and persons deprived of political rights by the court." Voting until 1949 was on a viva voce basis. While the Soviet constitution of 1936 introduced the secret ballot and direct elections, the 1940 Mongolian law provided for open ballots and indirect elections to the Great Khural until the 1949 amendments. Members of the Great Khural were elected from the aimag and urban khurals. These khurals were, in turn, elected by the sum khurals and the latter by the bag khurals. This method of indirect election was similar to the system of village, district, provincial, and national levels under the Soviet Constitution of 1918.^[6] The 9th Great Khural in February 1949 amended the constitution to introduce electoral reforms, secret ballots, and universal suffrage.^[3] All organs of state power were renamed the Khurals of Workers' Deputies, and direct elections to the Great Khural were introduced, with one deputy for every 2,500 people, up from the previous one for every 1,500 people. The system used to nominate candidates for the Great Khural elections is similar to that used in the USSR. According to Article 86 of the Mongolian Constitution, candidates are nominated by electoral districts, and the right to nominate candidates is ensured for social organizations and societies of workers: national revolutionary party organizations, cooperative and professional unions, youth organizations, arat unions, and cultural societies.^[6]

The first direct elections to the Great Khural were held on 10 June 1951, where 295 deputies were elected with an election turnout of 99%. Between 1951 and 1969, deputies to the People's Great Khural were elected for three-year terms. It was extended to four years since 1969 and five years since 1981.^[3]

In the aftermath of the Democratic Revolution of 1990, the entire Politburo of the MPRP resigned according to the protestors' demands. Subsequently, the People's Great Khural convened, elected Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat as the chairman, and swore in a new government led by Sharavyn Gungaadorj in March.^[8] In May, during the legislature's extraordinary session, the constitutional provision "The guiding force of the Mongolian People's Republic is the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, which uses the all-conquering Marxist-Leninist theory in its operations." was removed from the Constitution of the MPR, officially ending 70 years of one-party rule.^[9][3]

Mongolia's first free and fair election was held in June 1990, with the disposition of parties as follows:

According to the constitution, the chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural was also the head of state of the MPR. From 1951 to 1960, the official title was "chairman of the Presidium of the State Great Khural. After the adoption of the 1960 Constitution, the official title changed to chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural following the name change of the State Great Khural to the People's Great Khural.

• Mongolian People's Republic
• Constitutions of the Mongolian People's Republic
• Little Khural