Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned after losing a parliamentary confidence vote, culminating in weeks of mass protests ignited by social media images depicting his son’s opulent lifestyle during an engagement holiday, the BBC reported.
The viral photographs, extensively shared across Mongolian media and online platforms, purportedly showed Oyun-Erdene’s son and his girlfriend displaying luxury items including a black Dior shoulder bag alongside numerous high-end shopping bags. One image, captioned “Happy birthday to me” and reportedly posted by the girlfriend, alongside another showing the couple kissing in a swimming pool, fuelled public fury and allegations of corruption.
The images prompted immediate questions regarding the source of the family’s wealth, leading Mongolia’s anti-corruption body to initiate an investigation into their finances. Protesters, predominantly young citizens, took to the streets of Ulaanbaatar for two weeks, demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation.
Oyun-Erdene steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, attributing the allegations to a politically motivated “smear campaign” orchestrated by his critics.
During Tuesday’s confidence vote, only 44 of the 88 participating lawmakers supported Oyun-Erdene, falling significantly short of the required majority of 64 from the 126-member parliament. Thirty-eight members voted against him. Following the result, Oyun-Erdene stated:
It was an honour to serve my country and people in times of difficulties, including pandemics, wars, and tariffs.
This scandal echoes recent high-profile allegations involving former Mongolian officials. Notably, US prosecutors last year sought to forfeit two luxury Manhattan apartments valued at $14 million, allegedly purchased by former Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold using embezzled funds from Mongolian mining contracts.
Prosecutors claim Batbold, through intermediaries, awarded a lucrative $68 million mining contract to Catrison Limited – a Hong Kong-registered shell company with no operational history or mining expertise – and funnelled proceeds into foreign bank accounts and property purchases benefiting his family, including his eldest son.
