HDAC STAFF WITH CODEL PRICE PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ULAANBAATAR 000232

STATE FOR EAP/CM AND H, PASS TO JOHN LIS AND MARGARITA SEMINARIO AT
HDAC AND TO CRS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM EAID OREP MG

SUBJECT: HDAC STAFF WITH CODEL PRICE PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL
PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE IN MONGOLIA


1. (SBU) Summary: Representative David Price led a Congressional
Delegation to Mongolia on June 29-30, as part of the House Democracy
Assistance Commission's (HDAC) engagement with Mongolia, which began
in 2006. Congressional Research Service (CRS) and HDAC staff
members held concurrent meetings and training sessions focusing on
fostering the professionalism of the Mongolian parliamentary
secretariat and establishing an effective, professional and
non-partisan research service. Embassy Ulaanbaatar organized a full
agenda of concurrent meeting with Members of Parliament, leaders of
the Parliamentary Secretariat, and members of Mongolia's newly
established parliamentary research service. The Secretariat and the
Mongolian research service staff expressed appreciation for the
visit. Secretary General of Parliament, Sharavdorj, stated his
interest in additional training for parliamentary staffers, in
signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the CRS, and in gaining
access to the CRS research materials. Sharavdorj invited the head
of CRS and CRS representatives to a longer visit to Mongolia. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) HDAC staffer Margarita Seminario led the staff contingent
of CODEL Price. She was joined in the staffer program by Clay
Wellborn, Sherry Shapiro, and Bruce Vaughn of the Congressional
Research Service. They began their program by participating in a
full delegation discussion session on the importance of
parliamentary research with select members of Parliament, including
Vice Speaker G. Batkhuu and key Parliamentary secretariat staff.
The staff delegation spent the remainder of their sessions meeting
with different offices and members of the Parliamentary Secretariat
and concluded their visit with a substantive training session hosted
by Seminario for the staff of the Mongolian parliamentary research
service.

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BACKGROUND ON PARLIAMENT
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3. (SBU) Mongolia has a unicameral parliament often referred to as
the State Great Hural. Parliament has 76 members from four
political parties and one independent. Each member is elected to a
four-year term from a single-seat constituency and has a small
support staff. The parliament is active for about six months of the
year and is supported by a Secretariat that reports to the Speaker
of Parliament. The Secretariat is headed by Secretary General
Sharavdorj, who oversees the nine divisions of the Parliament. Six
of the divisions have policy implications including (1) Foreign
Relations, (2) Press and Promotion, (3) Legal, (4) Assembly/Standing
Committee Support, (5) Office of the Standing Committees, and (6)
the Center for Policy Analysis, Research and Public Relations
(including the Parliamentary Library). There are three additional
administrative divisions.


4. (SBU) The primary focus of the delegation was the Center for
Policy Analysis, Research, and Public Relations (CPA) which is
roughly equivalent to Congressional Research Service of the U.S.
Congress. The Mongolian Parliament established the center in 2009,
which now has 30 staff, almost all of whom have graduate degrees.
The staff is well educated but relatively young and not particularly
specialized. The Center provides research -- primarily comparative
international analysis -- at the request of parliamentarians or
standing committees. This is the sixth attempt to establish a
parliamentary research service since 1990. The CPA recently laid
off 25 percent of its staff as a result of the Mongolian budget
crisis, but the Center now appears to have a more stable
bureaucratic and administrative base and has gained wider support
among parliamentarians.


5. (SBU) Nonetheless, the center is still struggling to establish
itself as a trusted, non-partisan research service and better to
integrate itself with the work of the parliament. In particular,
the center must improve its coordination with standing committees
and identify research requests earlier in the process of drafting
and debating legislation. The center is also hampered by limited
foreign language skills which are essential to requesting
international comparative analysis. Finally, the CPA needs to
develop expertise in developing and packaging information and
analysis in ways that are more practical for parliamentarians and
their staff.

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OUTCOME OF INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS

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6. (SBU) After the initial plenary meeting with the Members of
Congress and Parliamentarians, Congressional staffers met with
Sharavdorj, the General Secretary of Parliament, along with several
of his colleagues to discuss challenges the Secretariat faces. They
also focused on ways to improve training and increase the
professionalization of the staff. Sharavdorj requested that CRS
consider passing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretariat
and the CPA to improve capacity and eventually conduct joint
research. In particular, he stressed the need for additional
training for CPA staff, including both Washington-based training and
CRS-led training in Mongolia. The areas for additional training,
according to Sharavdorj, included survey methodology and improved
language skills. Sharavdorj also noted the Secretariat is looking
to explore improved cooperation with the World Bank research team.
The staff delegation promised to relay the request for an MoU back
to the CRS director and to the HDAC committee, but expressed
interest in exploring ways for further mutually beneficial
cooperation. Sharavdorj closed the meeting by extending an
invitation to the head of CRS to come to Mongolia for a longer
visit.


7. (SBU) In the afternoon session, CPA Director Dr. Tsedenragchaa
Norovdondog and her deputy met the staff delegation a visited the
parliamentary library. Participants identified the following key
areas for improvement: 1) Improve coordination between the CPA and
parliament, especially early on in the policy process; 2) The CPA
must better tailor its materials to the needs of parliamentarians
and make materials more user-friendly; and 3) The CPA needs to
cooperate more effectively and share responsibilities with standing
committee staffers.


8. (SBU) After discussing these questions, staff member Seminario
raised the possibility of CPA staffers participating in a ten-day
HDAC legislative training session in Washington later this year.
She also suggested that CPA contact the International Parliamentary
Union, which may be able to provide further training and access to
materials. In particular, Seminario recommended that Norovdondog
contact the head of inter-parliamentary relations who is responsible
for networking with parliaments around the world.


9. (SBU) The final session held on June 30 was substantive training
for the full staff of the CPA and library by CRS and HDAC staffers.
CRS staffers focused on (1) the importance of clearly identifying
the needs of the audience through frequent discussion with the
target audience (staffers and Members of Parliament) both before and
after the research product is produced; (2) developing products that
are easy to use and yet substantive; (3) the need for research to be
free of personal bias and to present the key arguments from all
sides; and 4) the need for the CPA to cultivate a reputation for
being responsive to the needs of all parties and for being strictly
professional and non-partisan. Finally, CRS staff discussed the
possibility of sharing access to CRS research materials with the
parliament and the CPA. The CPA expressed great interest in
exploring this option and for further trainings.

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CONCLUSION AND COMMENT
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10. (SBU) The Mongolian Parliamentary Secretariat is anxious to
continue cooperation with the HDAC and faces the challenge of
becoming a professional, non-partisan support service to the
parliament. Key elements of this challenge are the lack of
effective analysis, inadequate packaging of research materials, and
limited language abilities and other specialized skills whose
absence hampers the staffers' ability to provide essential
comparative research and analysis. However, the current budget
constraints and bureaucratic uncertainty are distractions to the
CPA, as is the center's expectation of foreign assistance. The CPA
could more effectively address these challenges through additional
efforts within Mongolia or through visits to other parliamentary
research services with structure and context more similar to those
of Mongolia. However, there is much room for targeted assistance
from CRS and HDAC, which could be regularized through a Memorandum
of Understanding to provide access to CRS materials and foster
training opportunities for key managers. Post is eager to support
these efforts and welcomes additional such visits that promote
Mongolia's democratic development.

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MINTON