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Mongolia’s Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai resigned Tuesday after losing a parliamentary confidence vote, following weeks of public outrage and street protests over corruption allegations tied to his family.
Oyun-Erdene, who had served as prime minister since 2021, received only 44 of the 82 votes cast in a secret ballot—far short of the 64 needed to remain in office, according to a statement from Mongolia’s parliament. He will stay on in a caretaker role until a new prime minister is appointed.
The no-confidence vote followed growing pressure from protesters demanding his removal. The movement gained momentum after viral photos showed Oyun-Erdene’s 23-year-old son living a lavish lifestyle, reportedly gifting his fiancée luxury items including an expensive ring, designer handbags and a Mercedes-Benz.
“With no visible sources of income, their display of luxury bags, private travel, and high-end living was a blatant slap in the face to the average Mongolian citizen,” Amina, 28, a member of the protest group Ogtsrokh Amarkhan—translated as “Resigning is Easy”—told CNN.
The group gathered more than 59,000 signatures on a petition demanding Oyun-Erdene’s resignation. The petition cited the questionable wealth of his son, along with broader grievances, including inflation, rising unemployment, government opacity in budget spending, and tightening controls on press freedom.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Oyun-Erdene struck a conciliatory tone, saying he was “grateful to the youth who are expressing their views in support of transparency, and to citizens who are sharing their views from different perspectives.” However, he warned that the protests were “being used as a political pretext and merely creating instability.”
He added that the resulting “political instability” could lead to “lost opportunities” and delays in major economic projects.
Corruption scandals have long plagued Mongolia’s political elite. In 2023, U.S. prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against former Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold, who served from 2009 to 2012, accusing him of profiting from the sale of the nation’s natural resources. The lawsuit claimed Batbold and his family used illicit funds to purchase Manhattan real estate worth $14 million.
