Mongolian PM steps down after losing confidence vote
Mongolian PM steps down after losing confidence vote
Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene hugs a lawmaker after losing the vote of confidence but is staying on as a caretaker until a successor is appointed within 30 days. Photo: AFP
Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene resigned on Tuesday after failing a vote of confidence in parliament.
The Mongolian constitution stipulates that if a vote of confidence is not approved by parliament, the prime minister is deemed to have resigned and a new prime minister will be appointed within 30 days.
Speaking after the result of the vote was announced, Oyun-Erdene said: "It was an honour to serve my country and people in times of difficulties, including pandemics, wars and tariffs."
Some 82 lawmakers participated in the ballot, with 44 voting for retaining confidence in Oyun-Erdene, and 38 against – short of the 64 threshold required from the 126-seat parliament.
Oyun-Erdene has served as the prime minister of Mongolia since January 2021. He was re-elected in July 2024. (Xinhua/AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
3 hours ago
- RTHK
Wrongly deported migrant arrested on return to US
Wrongly deported migrant arrested on return to US Kilmar Abrego García was imprisoned in El Salvador for almost three months before returning to the United States. File photo: AFP Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has returned to the United States to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the US, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Abrego Garcia's return marks a turning point in a case that became a broader symbol of criticisms of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies. Critics, including many congressional Democrats, pointed to the case as a sign that the administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations. But the administration insisted that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers denied. On Friday, administration officials portrayed the indictment of Abrego Garcia by a grand jury in Tennessee as vindication of their approach – even though the charges were filed on May 21, more than two months after Abrego Garcia's March 15 deportation. At a press conference, Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant. "The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring," Bondi said in a press conference. Abrego Garcia will have the chance to enter a plea in court and contest the charges at trial. If he is convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said. In a statement, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process. 'Today's action proves what we've known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so," said Rossman. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge's 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. After his lawyers challenged the basis for his deportation, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest.' (Reuters)
RTHK
11 hours ago
- RTHK
Trump may get rid of his Tesla over Musk row: official
Trump may get rid of his Tesla over Musk row: official Donald Trump bought the Tesla in March to boost support for his mega-donor Elon Musk. Photo: AFP Donald Trump may now offload a Tesla vehicle he said he bought earlier this year in a show of support for Elon Musk, a White House official said on Friday, following a blazing row between the US president and his billionaire former advisor. The red electric vehicle, which retails for around US$80,000, was still in a parking lot on the White House grounds on Friday, a day after the very public meltdown between Trump and the South African-born tech tycoon. "He's thinking about it, yes," a senior White House official said when asked if the Republican would sell or give away the Tesla. Tesla stocks had tanked more than 14 percent on Thursday amid the row, losing some US$100 billion of the company's market value, but leapt back in early trading on Friday. Trump, who does not drive as president, said he was buying the Tesla in March to boost support for his mega-donor, whose brand – and bottom line – has been hit hard by public outrage over his role in slashing US government jobs. At a choreographed publicity stunt that turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom, Trump praised the EV as a "great product" and lashed out on social media at "Radical Left" attacks against the world's richest person and his company. Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and another senior aide posed in the car as recently as last week, in a photograph posted on Musk's social media network X. "Taking President Trump's Tesla out for a ride," Trump's communications advisor Margo Martin posted. But the shiny red vehicle has now become an awkward symbol of the fiery political divorce between Trump, 78, and former Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) chief Musk, 53. Trump said he was "very disappointed" by Musk and threatened to end his government contracts after his ex-aide criticised the president's flagship budget and policy mega-bill as an "abomination." (AFP)
HKFP
a day ago
- HKFP
Trump, Xi hold long-awaited phone call on US-China trade war
US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke Thursday, with both sides agreeing to talks to prevent an all-out trade war over tariffs and global rare earth supplies. Trump said the call reached a 'very positive conclusion' and that they agreed to meet in person — but Beijing issued a more muted readout saying that Xi spoke of a need to 'correct the course' of ties. The call — the first to be publicly announced since Trump returned to power in January — comes after Beijing and Washington accused each other of jeopardizing a trade war truce agreed last month in Geneva. Trump said a high-level US trade team including his treasury secretary, commerce secretary and US trade representative would meet Chinese officials soon. 'The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing,' he added. Trump said they would announce the time and place later. But the leaders did not discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump said, despite long-standing US hopes that Beijing could exert influence over Moscow to end the war. 'The conversation was focused almost entirely on TRADE,' said Trump, adding that they hoped to have resolved issues over crucial rare earth minerals used in tech products. Relations between superpower rivals Beijing and Washington have been fraught since April, when Trump introduced sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily. At one point the United States hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent. Trump had described Xi as recently as Wednesday as 'extremely hard to make a deal with.' Chinese state media said Trump had requested the call. There was no immediate confirmation from the White House. 'Correcting the course' In its more restrained readout, Beijing said that relations needed more work. 'Correcting the course of the big ship of Sino-US relations requires us to steer well and set the direction, especially to eliminate all kinds of interference and even destruction, which is particularly important,' Xi told Trump, according to state news agency Xinhua. The agency reported that the pair discussed the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force. Xi warned his US counterpart that Washington should handle the issue 'with caution' to avoid Taiwanese separatists 'dragging China and the United States into the danger of conflict,' Xinhua said. But Xi also extended Trump a welcome to return to China, according to the agency, following an earlier trip during his first term in 2017. Until Thursday, the two leaders had not had any confirmed contact since the Republican returned to power in January, despite frequent claims by the US president that such a call was imminent. Beijing and Washington agreed in Geneva last month to slash their staggeringly high tariffs for 90 days, but the two sides have since traded blame for derailing the deal. Trump argued last week that China had 'totally violated' the terms, without providing further details. China's commerce ministry hit back by saying the Trump administration had introduced 'discriminatory restrictive measures,' including revoking some Chinese student visas in the United States. Trump has separately ramped up tensions with other trade partners, including the European Union, by vowing to double global tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 percent from Wednesday.
