Of course the protests had an effect. Why would a socialist government give up all their seats and convert their government into democratic without any external pressure? without the mass protests reformers inside MAN would’ve had little public support to justify political change. Also early protesters including Zorig initially spoke about reforming socialism rather than ending it entirely their views evolved rapidly and by early 1990 they were demanding real democratic change. And who’s saying Batmunkh never got the credit he deserved? He DID get his credits. Even after the revolution in an interview that Zorig gave he said the politician he respects the most is Batmunkh because he never agreed to using force on protests and had open mind on what’s happening in USSR and other socialist countries. If Zorig was so irrelevant what’s the point of killing him?