June 2011
One would not know from their way of reacting how “insulted” Parliament members really felt at Baabar’s description of them as “nice guys who cannot take a decision”. As “nice guys” they fumed in silence, showed no irritation in public, whispered their unhappiness to one another and went to their rooms with a fixed smile on their face, personifications of refined manners. Baabar had specifically named Amarjargal, Munkh-Orgil, Temuujin, Bold, the Enkhbolds, Lundeejantsan, Oyun, Enkhbat, Altai, Gantumur, one of the Batsuuris, Bayar, Batbold, Gonchigdorj, Khurelbaatar, Narankhuu, Zandanshatar, Finance Minister Bayartsogt, Saikhanbilig, Chuluunbat, Mining Minister Zorigt, one of the Bayarsaikhans and Odbayar.
The following is a re-creation of what happens on a normal day in Mongolia where these nice guys play a role.
Heroic man:
What does that Tg21,000buy? You may as well throw it at an ovoo. Come out from Parliament House and tell the people how much more you agree to give. (The horses show their support with loud neighing.)
Heroic minister:
Take 1,072 shares for free. We won’t give shares of Tavan Tolgoi to companies. It’s all for you.
Prime Minister:
Government decision to give 536 shares to every citizen already approved, OK?
Heroic man:
Prime Minister, come out here and hear us.
Prime Minister:
Zorigt and Bayartsogt, you two go out and meet them. I don’t want to hear them shout at me.
Minister who is never afraid:
But they want your explanation, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister:
No matter, you two must go and explain. You two worked for the agreement on Oyu Tolgoi, and that gives everyone the right to abuse you. I have heard that children at primary school have been told they have to abuse you. Get ready to go. (Locks his door.)
Minister who is never afraid:
Open the door, Prime Ministeeeer …
Prime Minister:
Go and get reprimanded and be done with it. Take the blame on yourself to help the rest. In fact, signatures demanding their resignation are being collected.
Meanwhile, all the nice guys are laughing noiselessly in their rooms. TV channels are showing horses on the Main Square and commenting that the heart of UB looks dirty and ugly and smells horribly. Suddenly there is an announcement over the loudspeaker: “The horses are tired of standing on cold concrete for so many days. We want them removed.”
Heroic protesters are trying hard to locate the man with the loudspeaker. He is actually inside a green van of the police and is afraid the protesters might attack him. He wails, “Mother, we are in trouble, we may even be killed.” But the civil movements will not touch a police van. Their focus is on getting the Government to resign. The horses lend their support by screams of iin hoo.
Another protest demonstration is being held in Tsogttsetsii sum of South Gobi province. There are shouts like
“Why don’t we have hot water while mining workers have hot showers?”
“Why don’t we have even a basketball while mining workers play games in the sports hall?”
Local citizen:
I have lost my lungs to the coal dust.
Nice guy from the company:
We shall pay to move you away from the coal road. We shall also dig new wells for you and put up fences and stalls, all for free.
Local citizen:
Good. How much?
Nice guy from the company:
Five million tugrug.
Local citizen:
Throw that five million at the Ovoo. Two years ago, too, you said five million. Now the financial crisis is over. Now we need 50 million.
Nice guy from the company:
OK. Here is 50 million.
Local citizen:
I’m taking this 50 million as compensation for my lungs. But we won’t move. We will build a cafeteria on the coal road.
Nice guy from the company:
Then you’ll have nothing for your lungs.
Local citizen:
Be ready to shell out 100 million next year. I’m going to UB for medical treatment.
Brother of local citizen:
Where is my money? I, too, need medical care.
Nice guy from the company:
We don’t pay for you. You don’t live here, you’re from another soum.
Brother of local citizen:
Now I’m alone, but soon all our relatives will be here, demanding money.
Heroic minister has reached Tsogttsetsii sum:
If we build a railway to the south, the Chinese would drink the juice of Tavan Tolgoi coal like vampires. So we should build the railway to the north. That will delay matters somewhat, as the Russian wagons are old and slow. We can leave coal for our future generation.
Minister who is never afraid:
The deposit has 7 billion tons of coal. If we export 10 million tons to China every year, we’ll be mining for 700 years.
Heroic minister:
I’m bad at arithmetic, but I want to export much more than 10 million tons. We shall sell 50-60 million tons like Australia. That will take 118 years for the coal to be finished.
I think you are definitely a foreign agent, unconcerned about our future generations.
Now close this gravel road, and keep it closed until the 1,100-km railway is constructed.
Minister who is never afraid:
We cannot do it. The company has been building the asphalt road and will finish work in August.
Heroic minister:
Who issued the licence?
Minister who is never afraid:
We decided on it at a government meeting.
Heroic minister
You are definitely foreign agents…
Nice guy from the company:
Even if it’s gravel, we use it daily. We spent 21 billion on it and maintain it properly.
Heroic minister:
What a small amount!
Nice guy from the company:
Now we are spending Tg150 billion on the construction of an asphalt road.
Heroic minister:
I don’t care for your asphalt road. I just need to know who gave you the licence. If a journalist reveals who gave it, I’ll send her on a trip to Singapore.
Nice guy from the company:
We made a Concession agreement with the Government
Heroic minister:
Hmmm, I don’t like the Government.
Nice guy from the company:
We don’t have reserve in Tsagaan Khad, export will have to be halted until August.
Heroic minister
There must be 1-2 months’ reserve.
Nice guy from the company:
No, that reserve there is Ajnai’s.
Heroic minister:
It doesn’t matter whether you have reserve or not. If Ajnai has reserve, tell it to the authorities. You tried to build the asphalt road on a square that is Ajnai’s, right?
Local citizen:
Ajnai is a local man. He excavated the motherland for ten years but did not build even one kilometer of road. But you cannot allow anybody to build a road through a square of his licence area.
The head of the province:
Quiet! Every year Tavantolgoi LLC gives you Tg50,000 as Motherland Allowance.
Local citizen:
Instead of giving cash, Ajnai should give us jobs. He hires Chinese workers. He owns 20 per cent of Tavan Tolgoi Trans LLC and is head of the board of directors. No one can say anything to him. He cannot be touched.
The head of the province:
I asked you to shut up, didn’t I? If Tavan Tolgoi stops paying money to the regional budget, where will my salary come from? You don’t have a problem because you just got 50 million from this nice guy from the company for your lungs. If I make a complaint about Tavan Tolgoi or just go beyond their fence, I’ll be beaten up. Didn’t you see their security guys?
Head of Tsogttsetsii soum:
Thanks to this company our population has risen from a bare 3,000 to 10,000 today. What shall we do … Grey smoke always covers our sky, what shall we do?
Asian Development Bank:
The air pollution here is worse than in Ulaanbaatar. What have you done with the master plan we made to develop your sum?
Head of Tsogttsetsii sum:
What use is that master plan? We are short of kindergartens, schools, hospitals but there is no increase in our budget. What shall we do?
The head of the province:
The coal road is closed until August, OK? And we have no money for you. So you tell the rich company that you need money to build a kindergarten, a school, a hospital, a theatre and a bathhouse, and a police post. They’ve just built a traffic police post on the coal road and donated four new cars for police use. If you want I’ll put in a word for you and ask them to build nice things for your sum. They are rich, and are building a power plant and a coal washing facility. If you want to have a fountain in front of the sum headquarters just ask for it. Usually, they give everything asked for.
Meanwhile, the heroic man is standing in Sukhbaatar Square. He has been thinking hard and has just realised that society is divided into two halves. The first comprises protesters and the second, humble people who receive 1.072 shares as a result of the protest. The poor, unemployed and humble person just awaits the result of the protest by people who make sacrifices so that these humble people get food. The MPs, nice guys all, are still maintaining their gentlemanly silence.
The heroic man has understood that Baabar spoke the truth and wants to praise him for the first time in his life. Suddenly his mobile rings. His wife and children are calling him to say they need money to buy food and pay the electricity bill. But he continues his protest, standing in the cold wind to demand 1,072 free shares for every Mongolian, aa ya ya. But he has begun wondering what the result of the protest would be.
Heroic man who was president “Е”:
Remove the oligarchs from our state.
Man with crown who was president “В”:
Don’t praise yourself, don’t insult others. Long ties and short words are good. Find quality instead of scale. You learn from your mistakes.
Honest president “Е”:
May truth and justice prevail in Mongolia!
The heroic man has heard three presidents but he still does not know where he will find the money to buy meat for dinner. So he thought he would go to the nice company and demand something. He has been agitating against shares for companies and believes the oligarchs were behind the plan to let the companies have more shares, but maybe he will have to compromise.