YEREVAN, JAN. 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Three months before a parliamentary election in Armenia, Gagik Tsarukyan, a millionaire arm-wrestler, said he was going to return to politics and head the country’s second largest political party — the Prosperous Armenia party.
Mr Tsarukyan’s political come- back is important because changes to the constitution, due to come into force in 2018 when President Serzh Sargsyan steps down, mean power is shifting from the presidential office to the parliament. Parliament, and its composition, after April’s election will govern the country.
In a broadcast on his Kentron TV channel, Mr Tsarukyan, 60, said he was returning to Prosperous Armenia, the party he set up, because of the poor state of the economy.
“Since my decision to leave the political arena, there has been no political figure that has been able to fill my role,” he said. “I would have refrained from returning to politics if I were certain that our country was headed in the right direction.”
In a parliamentary election in 2012, the Republican party won 69 of the 131 seats and Prosperous Armenia won 37. The rest were split between four other parties.
Two years ago Mr Tsarukyan, who owns businesses spanning alcohol production to diamond cutting and dealing, quit politics after arguing with Mr Sargsyan over the constitutional changes.
But analysts now say his return may be designed to bolster the ruling party’s power in parliament rather than to present any real opposition.
Richard Giragosian, director at the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, said politics in Armenia is personality driven and that Mr Tsarukyan was able to appeal to a constituent that would not vote for the Republicans.
“Tsarukyan’s role in the coming elections will be very much to capture votes from people who would ordinarily vote for the opposition,” he said.
Styopa Safaryan, head of the Armenian Institute of the International and Security Affairs, agreed.
“Tsarukyan’s return is more a challenge for Armenia’s opposition party’s rather than current leadership and the Republican party,” he said.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 313, published on Jan. 20 2017)
