The Moscow Times, Russia
Jan 29 2007
This Armenian Offers a Potato in Every Pot
By Matthew Collin
These are high times for the man they call Dodi Gago. He’s rumored to
be the richest person in Armenia, his political party is riding high
in the opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections later this
year, and he’s been voted the most popular man in Armenia in two
separate opinion polls.
His real name is Gagik Tsarukyan, although many Armenians know him
better by his nickname. He’s a former arm-wrestling champion, the
winner of the world title in 1998; a hunk of beef and muscle who,
despite the fact that he’s now over 50, can still get away with
flaunting it in a skin-tight T-shirt. He got his start in what’s
known as animal husbandry, then set up a string of businesses in
Armenia that have brought him fabulous wealth and the kind of
palatial hilltop villa that are the dream of wannabe post-Soviet
oligarchs.
His business empire has continued to expand rapidly, and it probably
seemed logical to set up a political party to consolidate his
position. Prosperous Armenia, it’s called, although its main support
comes from those who are far from prosperous. Tsarukyan came up with
a winning strategy to get the public on his side: hand out free
potatoes in poor rural villages.
OK, so it’s not exactly high-level political discourse, but it seemed
to work, if the party’s own claims are to be believed. Although it
was only founded last year, Prosperous Armenia says it now has more
members than any other political group in the country. A recent poll
asked people which prominent Armenian, current or historical, would
be the most suitable national hero or leader today. A dead man topped
the poll, but Tsurukyan led the pack of the living.
Uncharitable critics, of course, have denigrated Dodi Gago’s
philanthropic benevolence, saying that the millions he’s spent on
potatoes, wheat and free medical care for the poor amount to nothing
more than vote buying on a massive scale — even describing it as
"potato democracy." As Tsurukyan himself put it: "They are just
condemning a person who is getting things done." There have also been
accusations that his pro-government party is just a lightly disguised
vehicle to boost the power of his ally, President Robert Kocharyan,
and to help Kocharyan maintain his influence after he leaves office
in 2008.
Others have suggested that the fact that Armenians can’t seem to
resist the charm of a super-rich strongman carrying a sack full of
free potatoes says something about the state of Armenian democracy.
How many of them would dare say it to the musclebound tycoon’s face,
however, is a different matter.
Matthew Collin is a journalist in Tbilisi.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
