Ödets ironier

Den reinkarnerade veganen återföddes till sin fasa i Köttkulla!

Today Thursday was the ceremonial ending of this part of our Mongolian education project in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Ten lectures at the Mongolian University for Science and Technology (MUST) and one held at the Tsesee Goun Management College was finally done. It felt rather good actually. My method in education can best be described as when Wallace and Gromit build the railroad at the same time as they are running the train. The ceremonial end was a lunch meeting downtown UB with dean G. Batkhurel and my assistant here Anarzul Dorligsuren. The Mrs. and I and our Mongolian friends met at the Mongolian BBQ downtown UB for lunch.
The establishment itself seems to have changed owner since the last time (think it was in 2004 or 2005) when it was owned by a Mongolian and an American. Now it seems to have been overtaken by a company called Nomads (surprise?). Since the last time the American influence on the establishment has seemingly diminished. What are the main impressions of Mongolia 2011? After all there has been some 20 years since the transfer from totalitarian rule to democracy?
On Sukhbaatar square demonstrating herders from the rural areas protest against the criminal coalition government of Mongolia (to their understanding). Mongolians I’ve been talking to claim that all politicians are liars and frauds.
My personal opinion is that this is a direct effect of how international organizations as the UNDP, the ADB and the IMF treat developing countries as Mongolia. They put pressure on Mongolian politicians by talking about where the limitations of economic policies lie. Thereby the Mongolian politicians loose the national economic sovereignty and cannot fulfill any promises given in democratic elections that has economic implications. Thereby the political process is deprived of its meaning. It becomes as described in Seinfeld’s definition of his and George’s TV-series within the Seinfled TV-series and its theme and layout: “It’s about nothing!”
If you remove the economic content of politics, politics turns into a meaningless ceremonial. It’s my opinion that neoliberal policies, designed to deprive politics of economic content actually ruins democracy of its meaningful content. If we want to continue to have a democratic society neoliberal aspirations to de-politize different areas of society must be combated. When democracy has been changed into meaningless ceremonial it is simply too late.

Mongolian politics and new tidings

Today Thursday was the ceremonial ending of this part of our Mongolian education project in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Ten lectures at the Mongolian University for Science and Technology (MUST) and one held at the Tsesee Goun Management College was finally done. It felt rather good actually. My method in education can best be described as when Wallace and Gromit build the railroad at the same time as they are running the train. The ceremonial end was a lunch meeting downtown UB with dean G. Batkhurel and my assistant here Anarzul Dorligsuren. The Mrs. and I and our Mongolian friends met at the Mongolian BBQ downtown UB for lunch.
The establishment itself seems to have changed owner since the last time (think it was in 2004 or 2005) when it was owned by a Mongolian and an American. Now it seems to have been overtaken by a company called Nomads (surprise?). Since the last time the American influence on the establishment has seemingly diminished. What are the main impressions of Mongolia 2011? After all there has been some 20 years since the transfer from totalitarian rule to democracy?
On Sukhbaatar square demonstrating herders from the rural areas protest against the criminal coalition government of Mongolia (to their understanding). Mongolians I’ve been talking to claim that all politicians are liars and frauds.
My personal opinion is that this is a direct effect of how international organizations as the UNDP, the ADB and the IMF treat developing countries as Mongolia. They put pressure on Mongolian politicians by talking about where the limitations of economic policies lie. Thereby the Mongolian politicians loose the national economic sovereignty and cannot fulfill any promises given in democratic elections that has economic implications. Thereby the political process is deprived of its meaning. It becomes as described in Seinfeld’s definition of his and George’s TV-series within the Seinfled TV-series and its theme and layout: “It’s about nothing!”
If you remove the economic content of politics, politics turns into a meaningless ceremonial. It’s my opinion that neoliberal policies, designed to deprive politics of economic content actually ruins democracy of its meaningful content. If we want to continue to have a democratic society neoliberal aspirations to de-politize different areas of society must be combated. When democracy has been changed into meaningless ceremonial it is simply too late.

Mongolia's new political landscape?

My input into the Mongolian education sector was terminated for this time today. Yesterday I finalized a course called "Public Administration and Business in the European Union" at the Mongolian University for Science and Technology (MUST), where I've been given a series of ten lectures. The students seemed happy enough. Hopefully this state of things will continue over the examinations. Today I held a single lecture at the Tsesee Goun Management College on the topic "Mongolian Democracy 1991-2010". It was en exposé over my own election obeservations since 2004 and my careful readings of reports and overviews of earlier elections. I had the idea that the election in 2009 was the last one, but now political development in Mongolia has taken a unppredict turn as longterm dominant political actor Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) has split into two. First, the main part taken back the old name Mongolian People's Party (MPP) and a fraction has broken out under the leadership of former Prime Minister N. Enkhbayar and under the old name MPRP. This has caused a dispute taken to court where the MPP claim the right to the MPRP name.
Politically this split decreases the possibility to predict the outcome of the upcoming election in 2012. This circumstance is very exciting for a political scientist like me. First, the political landscape has thereby changed. Second, nobody can tell for sure which election system will finally be used? Probably there are more question, but they have to wait for a more thorough analysis when time and space allows it.

Mongolian Politics

The MPP Flag on top of the restored MPRP building in Ulaanbaatar.

The MPP Symbol

A week ago I landed in the Mongolian Republic en route from Beijing. I've not been here for two years, so I was surprised to hear that the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) had changed their name into Mongolian People's Party (MPP). Possibly changing their name back to what it was before 1921, or just erasing their communist past. It cannot have been an easy task to change a name in use for 90 years. Its like a trademark for political stability in Mongolia.

The revolutionary part has not been entirely washed away, as their new flag is identical to the French tricolour, with a roselike flower in the middle. However, this change did not come about without protests, as the former Prime Minister and President N. Enkhbayar decided to start his own party, retaking the familiar name of MPRP. The result was that the renamed MPP decided to take the case to court and sue Enkhbayar and his associates. That's where things stands at the present.

Former PM and President N. Enkhbayar

Former President N. Bagabandi

The idea is not new, though, as the former President N. Bagabandi also presented ideas that got political commentators to speculate if he would start his own party after the termination of his presidency. It turned out that nothing came out of this. However, the result seem to be that approximately 20 years after the downfall of communism, the former Communist Party has finally split into two parts.

For the upcoming election in 2012 this means that the result becomes rather unpredictable. MPRP stood for stability in Mongolian politics, as it possessed a superior organizational build-up compared to their opponents in the opposition.

Gradually this changed as the Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP) became their coalition party after the election in 2008. After this cooperation (starting in the mandate period before 2008) the MNDP became more and more integrated into the power institutions that preserved MPRP's grip on power. As grip over the Central Election Committee (CEC) decreased after the election in 2006, as the chairman came from the MNDP, the total control of the MPRP started to erode.

However, much can still happen, as we will have to wait for the court decision on the legality of the name of Enkhbayar's party. How will the MNDP respond to this? Where will the legitimacy of the MPRP go? To the MPP or Enkhbayar's party? What kind of policies will evolve out of this?

Oporto in Portugal

Three days ago we had a minor road accident in the tiny town of Felgueiras, in the inland of Portugal. Our left front wheel was damaged and we had a minor brake failure. We managed to reach our hotel in Entres-os-Rios and to travel around the countryside in the Douro Valley. We arrived yesterday in Oporto with our wrecked car. The car-rental-company proudly presented their insurance policy (or actually as it turned out, their insurance company's policy). Oh no, in the policy it was to our astonishment written that the insurance policy did not cover a) windshield or glass damage; b) damage on tires. I told the two guys that the damage done to our car was a little beyond a flat tire. Then they presented another unexpected exception: The insurance policy did not cover damages inflicted on the car from below... Suddenly I remembered an old scetch from "Marty Feldman Show". Feldman is trying to understand the insurance policy in order to find out what kind of damages the insurance do cover. He and the insurance agent go over case after case, but there is always something that makes the insurance company able to claim that they cannot pay for just that particular type of damage. In the end Feldman gets fed up and asks: "- What exactly do the insurance cover?" The insurance agent looks at him seemingly surprised and answers: "- This insurance policy covers only collission between the insurance taker's vehicle and a rhinosaurous on a one-way bridge!" I think that finally has reality been catching up with Feldman's satire...

The Sun is Shining Bright

Finally me and m wife have reached Esposende, Portugal. Safely we made our way out of the horrible climate of Sweden. Travelling from arround zero to five degrees to fantastic 24 degrees and sunshine. Yesterday we took our little Hyundai on a daytrip to Galicia, Spain. We had a very expensive dinner at the Roman Restaurante in Pontevedra. My wife ate a tournedo and drank some Rioja wine, while I took a Galician hot soup and scallops with rice. We had plans on going to Santiago de Compostela, but we ran out of time and decided to turn arround in Ponteverde instead, and return to Portugal. On the way north we had a lovely lunch in Viala Praia de Acostar, in the sunshine, viewing out of the tiny little bay. We had tapas, water and some espessos. Strolling along the beach we saw some sandpipers och a lot of local fishermen and women fishing from the shore. Back in Esposende we spent the evening in a local pizzeria, eating pizzas and drinking the local beer, Superbock. Actually they had a locally brewed stout. Not the best ever, but quite okay. On the TV Benfica, Lisbon played Porto FC. By the sound later in the evening, cars blowing their horns and people yelling and cheering in the street, we concluded that Porto won the game. Assuming that the locals were Porto fans. Which is not for certain, as everyone familiar with football in Southern Europe knows. You might actually be a fan of a club very far away. My friend Rafaele, for instance, lives in Bari, in Southern Italy, but is a fan of Juventus, from Torino in the north. The footballers were not the only disturbance here though, as for some strange reason the local lighthouse blows out a strange sound every minute. I asked the portier why and he said that it was a warning to the fishermen on their boats trying to go out during lowering tide. I asked him if a warning sound being on frequently and almost all the time lost is warning value...