89 Facts About Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj previously served as prime minister in 1998 and again from 2004 to 2006.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was one of the key leaders of the 1990 Mongolian democratic revolution that ended 70 years of communist rule in Mongolia, and co-drafted the country's 1992 constitution that guaranteed democracy and a free market economy.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has been labeled by his supporters as a "freedom fighter" and the "Golden Sparrow of Democracy," alluding to a bird that comes with spring sunshine after a long, harsh winter.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is the Bernard and Susan Liautaud visiting fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is a president of World Mongol Federation - an international federation of Mongols around the world.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's tenure has focused on fighting corruption, environmental protection, women's rights, judicial reform, civic engagement, economic liberalization and privatization, property rights, and the abolition of the death penalty.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was born into a nomadic herding family in Zereg sum, Khovd province, on 30 March 1963.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj spent most of his early childhood herding livestock through the high mountains of Zereg sum.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's father, Mongolyn Tsakhia, was a veteran of Mongolia's border conflict with the Empire of Japan that resulted in the 1939 Battle of Khalkhyn Gol.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj finished the sum's eight-year school in 1979.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj graduated from the academy in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and then began working for the newspaper Ulaan Od.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced this news to the hunger strikers and to people who'd gathered on Sukhbaatar Square at 10 PM on that day after the negotiations between leaders of MPRP and Mongolian Democratic Union.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj worked as a correspondent at Ulaan Od-newspaper of the Mongolian Armed Forces and as a chief of an army literature unit between 1988 and 1990.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj founded Mongolia's first independent newspaper Ardchilal and worked as its first editor-in-chief in 1990.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj co-introduced freedom of the press in the country by co-initiating the Law on Press Freedom and playing a key role in passing the law in 1998.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj helped to create Mongolia's first independent TV station Eagle TV in 1994.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was elected to the Parliament four times, in 1990,1992,1996 and 2008.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj founded and worked as the head of Mongolia's first Entrepreneurs Association in 1991 as well.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj supported the privatization of state-owned properties and assets and land.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj played a key role in the approval of the Rehabilitation Law, which provided rehabilitation and compensation to the survivors and families of political victims, and recovery from the Stalinist purges and prohibited future violation of human rights.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj stayed in office until Janlavyn Narantsatsralt replaced him on 9 December 1998.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's lectures played a significant role to make Democratic Party get majority seats in 2004 Mongolian Parliamentary elections.

On 20 August 2004, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj became the prime minister of Mongolia for the second time.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's government signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in April 2005 and ratified it in January 2006.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's administration revealed the Customs chairman's corruption case amounting to millions of dollars from which the ex-chairman donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the MPRP in 2005.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj attempted to support domestic businesses by eliminating excessive regulations, many licensing requirements, and import taxes for key category products.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj subsidized and supported technical schools and specialized professions to reduce unemployment.

Besides, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj initiated a "Green Wall" environmental project to plant trees in barren areas and desert zones to prevent from massive sandstorms from Mongolia reaching to North America and to reduce air pollution.

However, the MPRP threatened to leave the coalition if Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj ran against MPRP candidate Miyeegombyn Enkhbold, and Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj withdrew.

On 13 January 2006, the MPRP left the coalition anyway, and Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was forced to resign.

At the Democratic Party's convention on 3 April 2009, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj defeated Erdeniin Bat-Uul in a contest for the party's nomination for the presidency of Mongolia.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj won the Mongolian presidential elections twice: on 24 May 2009 and 26 June 2013.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was sworn into office on 18 June 2009 for his first term, and on 10 July 2013 for his second term as President of Mongolia.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is Mongolia's first president to never have been a member of the former communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and the first to obtain a Western education.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was sworn into office for his first term as President of Mongolia in State House in front of the Parliament and guests on 18 June 2009.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj served as a chair of the Community of Democracies from 2011 to 2013, an intergovernmental coalition of democratic countries of which Mongolia is a participating member.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj worked with the coalition members to form an agenda to consolidate civil society and strengthen democracy.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is a frequent lecturer on democracy and human rights, both domestically and abroad.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said in his speech "It is a human desire to live free that is an eternal power" at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj remarked "I truly believe in freedom for each and every individual" at the Bundestag.

At the ASEM8 Summit on 3 October 2010, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj openly called on Myanmar's authorities to free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and not long after she was released.

In June 2016 President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj visited the newly elected State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aung San Suu Kyi "in honor of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Mongolia and Myanmar".

In 2012, following his talks at the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan and meeting with Kyrgyz NGO leaders and students to share Mongolia's experience towards democracy for two decades, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj began the establishment of the Democratic Transition Assistance Foundation of Mongolia.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj condemned the violence in Syria and called on world leaders to unify to end the bloodshed.

In 2000 Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj founded Mongolia's Liberty Center, a non-governmental organization advocating human rights, freedom of expression and education.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj spoke at many democracy conferences including "Re-founding America" conference sponsored by the International Society for Individual Liberty in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States in 2007 prior to his presidency.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj created a concept for decentralization: increasing local powers with civic participation, creating local development funds, and giving financial support to local authorities from central government budget.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj submitted the concept to the Parliament to make it a part of the new Organic Budget Law and the law was passed with the part.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has long been an advocate for women's rights and more proportional representation of women in the decision-making level of governments.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj stressed the importance of women in leadership, highlighting the three-fold increase of women representatives elected in the 2012 Mongolian parliamentary elections in his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2012.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said "Public policies on social welfare or protection should reflect kindness and tenderness of mothers," in his public lecture at Yangon University in Yangon, Myanmar.

On 14 January 2010, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced that he would, henceforth, systematically use his prerogative to pardon all persons sentenced to death.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj stated that most countries in the world had abolished the death penalty, and Mongolia should follow their example.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj suggested that capital punishment would be commuted to a thirty-year prison sentence.

The decision was controversial; when Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced it in Parliament, MPRP representatives did not give the applause customarily due after a presidential speech.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj did share the same views during his visit to Strasbourg in 2015 addressing the European Parliament.

Under the leadership of Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Mongolia hosted the 11th Asia-Europe Summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on 15 and 16 July 2016 for the first time.

About foreign policy, "Mongolia shall remain an active member of the international community and shall actively cooperate in addressing regional and global challenges," Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj emphasized in his inaugural address for his first term as President of Mongolia on 18 June 2009.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj praised the choice of the Kyrgyz people for parliamentary governance and their resolute struggle for freedom and justice in his speech at the Kyrgyz Parliament in April 2012.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj gave a lecture titled "It is the human desire to live free that is an eternal power," as the first foreign Head of State to read a lecture on this topic at the Kim Il Sung University.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj visited South Sudan to encourage Mongolian soldiers on 15 February 2013.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has committed Mongolia to be nuclear-free and a nuclear free world as a principal component of his foreign policy agenda.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj made international headlines in 2012 after being the first world leader invited to visit the Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz.

About foreign investment policy, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj stated "I stand open to cooperate with responsible, transparent and law-obedient investors aligned with the development interests of Mongolia," in his inaugural address for his second term as the country's president on 10 July 2013.

The United States Senate passed Resolution Number 208 on the occasion of Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's visit to the United States on 15 June 2011.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj initiated and co-hosted with the World Economic Forum "Fair Mineral Development" roundtable in Ulaanbaatar in June 2010.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj won the case with the professional help of internationally well known American and Mongolian paleontologists.

In September 2009 Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj replaced the Community Council of Independent Authority Against Corruption formed by former President Nambaryn Enkhbayar which included sports and music stars and supreme clergy while expressing his dissatisfaction with its investigation of petty corruption instead of political level corruption.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj sees Chinggis Khaan as a leader from whom to learn for anti-corruption efforts.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said that Genghis Khan sought equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of status or wealth.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj convened "Judicial Reform and Justice" Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in April 2011.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj declared a day as Tree Planting Day by decree on 4 April 2010 and has been organizing a tree planting campaign around the country.

Many non-governmental organizations and social networks support Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj's call to plant trees.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj ordered schools to have environmental subjects in schools' curricula.

President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj took part in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Paris, France.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj introduced the Smart Government platform at the publicly broadcast event, "From A Big Government To A Smart Government" on 16 November 2013.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj defines "smart government" as a combination of skilled people, technological advancements, research, and laws that all add up to creating a new mindset of how government must serve its citizens and enable private sector development.

On 20 May 2013, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj issued a decree that directed the government to provide financial support to Mongolian students to study at the world's top universities.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj vetoed a section of a law amendment that would have increased his salary; in return, he submitted a bill to the Parliament to give allowance as salary from the government to all Mongolian students studying in Mongolia.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has been calling for a curb on the abuse of alcohol in Mongolia.

Under his auspices and in collaboration with his office, civil society and non-governmental organizations organized many activities such as the Alcohol-Free Mongolia campaign, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj banned the use of all alcoholic beverages at state dinners and state ceremonies under his name.

When Mongolia's population officially reached 3 million with the birth of a baby girl in Umnugobi province in February 2015, President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj welcomed the news with a cheer, personally calling the parents to congratulate the new-born citizen.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj claimed that Buryats, Tuvans, and Kalmyks are "used as nothing more than cannon fodder", and that Mongolia is ready to shelter refugees fleeing Russia to avoid the military draft.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj praised the "brave people" of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On 24 January 2023 in Washington, DC, USA, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj participated in setting the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation.

On 31 August 2020, following the protests by Chinese Mongols against the Chinese authorities' decision to replace their native Mongolian language in some school subjects with Chinese Mandarin in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj voiced his support in media, and social media and youtube.

Since stepping down from the presidency, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj has been vocal about Mongolia's future of democracy and a market economy.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj met Khajidsuren Bolormaa at a Mongolian students' party in Lviv, Ukraine when they were students.

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj became the first president to dive to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, Baikal, in the Mir-1 mini-submersible on 16 July 2010.