Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia—Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned on Tuesday, a parliamentary statement said, after losing a confidence vote among lawmakers.
The secret ballot followed days of protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar against alleged corruption.
Oyun-Erdene will remain as caretaker prime minister until his successor is appointed within 30 days, the statement said.
Mongolia, a landlocked democracy in northern Asia, has battled deep-seated corruption for decades.
Many in the country believe that the country’s wealthy elite are hoarding the profits of a years-long coal mining boom at the expense of the general population.
Since Oyun-Erdene took power in 2021, Mongolia has plummeted in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
The country has seen frequent protests and unrest, and hundreds of young people turned out in Ulaanbaatar last week calling for his resignation.
Fuelling public outrage are accusations that members of the prime minister’s family are enjoying lavish lifestyles far beyond what a civil servant on the public dime could afford.
In a statement to Agence France Presse (AFP) last month, the prime minister’s office said it “vehemently” denied the allegations, describing them as a “smear.”
Concerns over the economy and rising living costs have also stoked the unrest.
Some counter-protesters—overwhelmingly older than their pro-opposition counterparts—also turned out to support the prime minister.
Mongolia has been ruled by a three-way coalition government since elections last year resulted in a significantly reduced majority for Oyun-Erdene’s Mongolian People’s Party (MPP).
But the MPP evicted the second-largest group, the Democratic Party (DP), from the coalition agreement last month after some younger DP lawmakers backed calls for Oyun-Erdene’s resignation.
The move pushed the country’s political scene into further uncertainty.
Some 82 lawmakers participated in the secret ballot, with 44 voting for retaining confidence in Oyun-Erdene, and 38 against.
The ballot did not reach the 64-vote threshold required from the 126-seat parliament, prompting Oyun-Erdene to stand down.
