21 Facts About Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was a Mongolian politician and a member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat served as a president of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997 first as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural in 1990 then, as the President of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was the first President of Mongolia to be elected by direct popular vote.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat adopted his mother's name "Punsalmaa" after his father died in 1947.

In 1967, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was named Chief Engineer at the Sharyn Gol coal mine in Darkhan-Uul Province before becoming deputy Minister of Mining and Geology in 1972.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was named Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural on 21 March 1990 following the resignation of Jambyn Batmonkh and other government leaders in the wake of the 1990 Democratic Revolution.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was re-elected to the People's Great Khural in July 1990 parliamentary elections and then chosen by Khural members for the newly created position of President of the Mongolian People's Republic.

On June 6,1993, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat soundly defeated Tudev, winning 57.8 percent of the vote to become the first president ever elected by popular vote in Mongolia.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat accused the government of not meeting its social welfare obligations.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was critical of the Mongolian Intelligence services for failing to prevent the rise of transnational organised crime in Mongolia.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat blamed over burdensome local and central bureaucracies for blocking faster economic improvement and called for reducing the overall size of the bureaucracy and speeding up privatization of government owned assets.

When in March 1994 opposition parties withdrew from parliament, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat publicly called for a protection of the rights of the minority parties and accused the ruling MPRP of exploiting the media to their advantage by limiting press coverage of parliament.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat supported reforms to election law to open elections to all parties in advance of parliamentary elections in 1996.

In foreign affairs, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat called for a re-orientation of Mongolian foreign policy to broaden international cooperation with all nations, especially with Mongolia's two powerful neighbours China and Russia.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat rejected the transport and stationing of weapons of mass destruction in Mongolia, and declared Mongolia a nuclear free zone.

In 1994, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat undertook official visits to South and Southeast Asia, signed cooperation agreements with India and Laos, and obtained financial assistance from Thailand to address the food shortage crisis.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was the first Mongolian leader ever to officially visit the United States as well as the first Mongolian head of state in 30 years to visit Beijing, although relations with China suffered in autumn of 1995 when workers at the Mongolian embassy in Beijing discovered electronic bugs that had presumably been in place more than 10 years.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat again ran for president in the May 1997 election, but faced a Mongolian public unhappy with the economic dislocation caused by the fast pace of reforms.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was married to Sharav Tsevelmaa and had two children.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat died on 17 January 2025, at the age of 82.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat was the recipient of several awards and medals, including; Order of Chinggis Khan, Order of the Polar Star, Honoured medal of labour, Medal of the 50th, 60th, 80th anniversary of the People's Revolution, Medal of Military Force, Medal of the 800th Anniversary of the foundation of the Great Mongolian State, and Medal of the 20th Anniversary of the Democratic Revolution.