Feudalism returns to Armenia

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to VK

For many centuries Armenia was a feudal country ruled by a main feudal-tsar and feudal princes. In fact, the country stopped being feudal only after becoming Soviet. However, since 1998, i.e. after Robert Kocharyan became president, feudalism revived. As a result of a division of interests and parts of economy between members of the team of the second president, Armenia became divided into regions ruled by feudal prince-governors appointed by Kocharyan and his successor Sargsyan. But in recent times the medieval feudal system has failed in Armenia. Feudal governors and mayors felt too much freedom and decided to act against their patrons’ will. One such presumptuous prince is the self-perpetuating mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Gukasyan.

On 9 September, Gyumri, the second city of Armenia, will hold the elections for mayor. The city is gripped by election fever. The main question is whether the current Gyumri mayor, Vardan Gukasyan, will take part in the polls. It is the most discussed question not only in the city, but in the whole republic. According to Gukasyan’s team, the mayor hasn’t decided on the issue yet. But he has stated that “the people make him, even force him to take part in the polls.” The situation around Gyumri's mayor became tense after Gukasyan asked for the resignation of the head of the territorial party structure of the Republican Party of Armenia in the Shirak region on July 21: see VK http://vestikavkaza.ru/articles/Vybory-mera-Gyumri-.html. It seems Gukasyan wants to prove that he can leave the party at any moment and become an independent candidate.

First and foremost, the reason for Gukasyan’s deed is dissatisfaction with the results of the parliamentary elections in Gyumri by the top administration of the party and President Sargsyan. The authorities accuse the mayor of lack of passion and initiatives during the parliamentary elections. The Republican candidate gained 14.5 thousand votes, while the candidate from Prosperous Armenia gained 2 thousand votes. However, the only real reason for failure in the elections in Gyumri is that for many years the authorities didn’t want to deal with  the problems of Gyumri’s citizens. More than 6000 families are homeless in the city, the poverty level has reached 40%. Thus, Gukasyan should be blamed for ignoring the peculiarities of the local residents’ character, so he made overstated promises.

An MP from Prosperous Armenia, Samvel Balasanyan, is thought to be a possible successor to the self-perpetuating mayor of Gyumri. The PPA has decided to adopt Balasanyan in the mayoral elections. A businessman and the owner of the major brewery enterprise in Gyumri, Balasanyan is thought to be one of the traditional representatives of the Armenia political field, considering his ties to the past and present. But even he seems to be preferable to Gukasyan. RPA supports Balasyan as well, as he has commercial interests with top state officials. Moreover, support for the PPA candidate makes the authorities cooperate with the party, despite its efforts to demonstrate its opposition character. Therefore, the opposition PPA stands together with the ruling party in the mayoral elections.

The second reason for eliminating Gukasyan from politics is the general policy of renewing the list of those in power. The current mayor and his relatives have been involved many times in scandals and criminal affairs. In this sense, the developments in Gyumri should worry other Armenian feudalists who have ruled their cities for several terms. Gyumri is full of rumors at the moment. Some say that Gusakyan is trying to attain his next “re-election” by means of the Russian president.

The residents of Gyumri are indifferent to the top-level struggle and to the prospect of replacing the self-perpetuating mayor, because it wouldn’t affect their everyday problems.