Page 19 - bne_newspaper_May_11_2018b

Eurasia
May 11, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
COMMENT: Armenia: the dire rankings behind its Velvet Revolution
Kakha Baindurashvili in Tbilisi
On May 8, Nikol Pashinian, who led the massive protests that ousted Armenia's longstanding head of state turned prime minister Serzh Sargsyan, who was in power for over a decade, was elected prime minister by MPs.
Due to constitutional changes put in place by Sargsyan that increased the powers of the office of prime minister, Pashinian has not only become the fourth leader of the Republic of Armenia since it achieved independence, he has also gained the expanded powers his predecessor intended for himself.
Unlike his predecessors, Pashinian is neither a dissident nor shaped by a military background. He is the first of his kind in Armenia’s political histo- ry: a former newspaper editor, Pashinian entered politics via the media. As might be expected from a man with his background, the new prime minis- ter’s look and speech are informal and are orient- ed to the young and the future. These were vital elements in driving the street demonstrations, creating the so-called Armenian Velvet Revolution. There has been huge popular demand for a politi- cal reshuffle, equality, justice, and a better future.
The Armenian events caught many observers by surprise; even the most well-informed Russian thinkers were confused by the sudden rise of a self-made politician. Hardly anyone believed the opposition could win a victory so fast. They were caught off guard by the power of the street over the established political elite – at least for now as things stand.
Now the new administration is in place, the first major question it must tackle is foreign policy – and most importantly the Pashinian policy to- wards Russia.
In the current turbulent geopolitical climate, it is highly unlikely the new government will revise its Russo-Armenian relations. Changes to the previ- ous set-up won’t happen soon, if ever. In real-
ity, Russia plays a very small role in the internal politics of the country as Armenians are far more concerned with their personal situation than ex- ternal relations. To better understand what drives popular dissatisfaction, let’s have a look at how Armenia is ranked in various credible indexes.
Armenia places 129th in Jeffrey Sachs’ World Happiness Report 2018, which makes Armenians one of the unhappiest nations in the world. Among things that make Armenians unhappy are corrup- tion, low incomes and social injustice.
Corruption seems to be the key factor behind popular frustration. In none of the indices is Armenia a frontrunner, although it does perform relatively well in some business-focused rank- ings. For instance, Armenia ranks 47th out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 ranking. It has a good position in US-based think tank the Heritage Foundation’s 2018 Index of Economic Freedom placing 44th of 180 countries. And it does even better in Fraser Institute’s Eco- nomic Freedom of the World at 18th.
Despite these relatively good results, all the ben- efits are actually monopolised by the country’s oligarchs and government officials; literally every sector of the Armenian economy is controlled by someone from one of these two groups. Very little trickles down to the man in the street.
The country’s economy is effectively divided among the local strongmen. No surprise then that there is no place for ordinary Armenians in Arme- nia and they have been leaving en masse: circa