Source: Foreign Policy                         Date: April 13, 2011

President Ts.Elbegdorj has said popular protests in the Middle East are “ushering in a new age where the seeds of democracy can at last find fertile ground”. Watching the throngs of demonstrators, he says he was “gripped by the same feeling that swept Mongolia's Sukhbaatar Square two decades earlier. Back then, as one of the organizers of our democratic uprising against the communist-run government, I stood for days in the biting cold, freezing but exhilarated because the fear that our rulers instilled in us -- to bend us, and ultimately break us into subservience -- was gone. We were not backing down. There was no certainty that freedom would prevail, but in the end, it did.”

Saying that the present movements should not come as a surprise, for it has long been clear that “people deprived of freedom will naturally seek it, fight for it, and if necessary, die for it”, President Elbegdorj called upon the leaders of the concerned states to “acknowledge this fact and unleash the tremendous potential of their countrymen through political liberalization”. He recalled how, in 1990, following the overthrow of the then ruling Politburo, Mongolia’s democratic leaders has asked a simple question: What next? “It was easy to be against something,” but the difficult work began only later. Countries that emerge from these democratic revolutions should study the experience of countries such as Mongolia that have transitioned to democratic governance. “Our customs and cultures might be different, but sharing advice from our successes as well as our failures can prove invaluable in helping these countries get back on their feet”, he said, and added, “Having lived under and fought against the tyranny of communism, there's one thing I know: There is no dictatorship, no military regime, and no authoritarian government that can stand against the collective will of a people who want to be free.”