Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (, born
April 25,
1946) is a
Russian politician, deputy and vice-chairman of the
State Duma (the Russian
parliament), and lawyer. Zhirinovsky is the founder and the leader of the
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (
LDPR), the third largest party in the Duma. He is also a member of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe.
Zhirinovsky was born in
Alma-Ata, former capital of the then-
Soviet Republic of
Kazakhstan. In July
1964, Zhirinovsky moved from Alma-Ata to
Moscow, where he began his studies at
Moscow State University, from which he graduated in
1969. Zhirinovsky then went into military service in
Tbilisi during the early
1970s. He would later get a law degree and work at various posts in state committees and unions. He was awarded a
Ph.D. in
philosophy by MSU in
1998.
Though he participated in some underground reformist groups, Zhirinovsky was largely inessential in Soviet political developments during the
1980s. While he contemplated a role in politics, a nomination attempt for a seat as a People's Deputy in
1989 was quickly abandoned. [
1] Zhirinovsky, whose father was , began his formal political career in the Shalom Cultural Society, a
Jewish organization given support by the
Soviet government in order to compete with independent Jewish groups which sprang up during the era of
glasnost under the tenure of
Mikhail Gorbachev in the latter part of the decade. [
2]
After many years of denying his Jewish heritage, Zhirinovsky finally aknowledged his father's Jewish identity in 2003. On a private visit to
Israel in June 2006, Zhirinovsky paid his first visit to the grave of his father, Wolf Isakovich Eidelshtein, who is buried in the
Tel Aviv suburb of
Holon.
[{{cite news ]| first = Yossi | last = Melman | url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/732918.html | title = The Jewish Side of the Family | publisher = Haaretz | date = 2006-06-30In 1990, Zhirinovsky, along with Vladimir Bogachev, took initiatives which led to the founding of the Liberal Democratic Party, the second registered party in the Soviet Union and therefore the first officially sanctioned opposition party. In elections that same year, after which Gorbachev became the first President of the Soviet Union, the LDPR officially gathered 8% of the vote. Afterwards, the LDPR would garner a reputation as an ineffective vehicle for opposition against the government, and one that lacked either credibility or authenticity, particularly given Zhirinovsky's vocal support for the Soviet coup attempt of 1991. This view was further encouraged by rumors, denied by Zhirinovsky, that he was an agent of the KGB and that the LDPR was a farcical creation meant to either discredit or distract earnest opposition to the government. Such impressions would last even as the Soviet Union was dissolved and the Communist Party itself was thrown into an opposition role.
Nonetheless, the Liberal-Democratic Party remained an important force in Russian politics. At the height of its fortunes, the LDPR gathered 23% of the vote in the 1993 Duma elections and achieved a broad representation throughout the country - the LDPR being the top vote-getter in 64 out of 87 regions. This fact encouraged Zhirinovsky to once again vie for the presidential office, this time against incumbent Boris Yeltsin. The fact that Yeltsin's candidacy seemed seriously challenged by Russian nationalist groups and a rejuvenated Communist Party alarmed many outside observers, particularly in the Western world, who were concerned that such developments posed a serious threat to the survival of Russian democracy, already in a very fragile state. Zhirinovsky became a focal point of harsh criticism and seemed to be the living embodiment of authoritarianism and militarism in modern Russia. | Zhirinovsky at a news conference. |
For his own part, Zhirinovsky has done a great deal to foster a reputation as a loud and boisterous populist who speaks on behalf of the Russian nation and people, even when the things he says are precisely what many people, at home or abroad, do not want to hear. Zhirinovsky infamously promised voters in 1991 that if he were elected, free vodka would be distributed to all. Similarly, he once remarked, during a political rally inside a Moscow department store, that if he were made president, underwear would be freely available. [{{cite news ]| first = Kevin | last = Fedarko | url = http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,979889,00.html | title = A Farce to Be Reckoned With | publisher = TIME | date = 1993-12-27 He has on several occasions been involved in altercations with other politicians and debate opponents.
Despite his past association with Jewish groups, Zhirinovsky has been widely accused of anti-Semitism. He has expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, as well as 1996 Presidential contender Pat Buchanan, who has faced similar accusations, on the verge of his victory in the New Hampshire primary. Referring positively to a comment in which Buchanan labeled the United States Congress "Israeli-occupied territory", Zhirinovsky remarked that, "We have the same situation in Russia." He said that both countries were "under occupation" and that "to survive, we could set aside places on US and Russian territories to deport this small but troublesome tribe." Buchanan strongly rejected Zhirinovsky's endorsement, eliciting a harsh response: "You filled your pants as soon as you got my congratulations. Who are you afraid of? Zionists?" [3]
He is also well known for his boasts pertaining to other countries, having expressed a desire to reunite countries of the ex-Soviet "near abroad" with Russia, and dreaming of a day "when Russian soldiers can wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean". Zhirinovsky has been quoted to the effect that, among other things, Russia should retake Alaska back by using force, construct large fans to blow Russia's nuclear waste into Germany and the Baltic republics, and use nuclear weapons against its adversaries.
While some observers were inclined to consider such comments as stark efforts to drum up nationalist support and should not be viewed as anything more serious than electoral fodder meant for domestic consumption, there was great consternation at the fact that in February 1996, months before a presidential election, Zhirinovsky placed second in opinion polls, behind Communist Gennady Zyuganov and ahead of Boris Yeltsin. In the end, however, Zhirinovsky placed fifth with a 5.7% share in the first round of voting. Since then, the party's fortunes have somewhat stabilized, with 2003 seeing a LDPR vote share of 11.7%, while the effect of Zhirinovsky's personality only increased his irrelevancy in successive presidential elections. In 2004, he declined to even be nominated by the party, leaving that role to Oleg Malyshkin, who received a nearly negligible portion of the vote.Zhirinovsky hailed what he described as "the democratic process" in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, whom he supported strongly. The friendship dates at least until the first Gulf War, during which time Zhirinovsky sent several volunteers from the "Falcons of Zhirinovsky" group to support the Iraqi president. The gestures apparently did not go unrewarded, as allegations have dogged Zhirinovsky closely since the fall of Baghdad that he personally profited from illicit oil sales as part of the Oil-for Food scandal, a charge investigated in 2005 by the US Senate Pemanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). [4]
In 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan declared Zhirinovsky persona non grata on the territory of his historical homeland, due to the politician's controversial speech about the change of the Russiaâ€"Kazakhstan border, in which he questioned the Kazakh people's place in history. Zhirinovsky maintains his view, claiming that his position is backed by a number of academic works on history and geography. Moreover, he called on the government of Kazakhstan not to take offense on the matter. [5]
In reaction to Condoleezza Rice's criticism of Russian foreign policy during the January 2006 Russia-Ukraine gas dispute, Zhirinovsky stated that Rice's comments were a reflection of her own unmarried and childless status, and that "Condoleezza Rice needs a company of soldiers. She needs to be taken to barracks where she would be satisfied." [6]
*"Vladimir Zhirinovsky" - Biography on the Indiana University Department of Computer Science site.
*"Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich" - Panorama.ru.
*"Organized National Life of Russian Jews in the Late Soviet and Post Soviet Era: a View from Moscow by Eugene Satanovsky" - Jewish Political Studies Review, Spring 2002.
*"Flamboyant Russian lawmaker in parliament chamber brawl" - Associated Press, March 30, 2005.
*"Russia's Zhirinovsky now blasts Buchanan as `crap'" - Lev Krichevsky, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 1, 1996.
*"Oil for Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program" - Hearing Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, May 17, 2005.
*"Vladimir Zhirinovsky: The political entertainer" - Sergey Yugov, Pravda, April 24, 2002.
*"Condoleezza Rice's anti-Russian stance based on sexual problems" - Yaroslava Krestovskaya, Pravda, January 1, 2006.
*"Philosophy in Post-Soviet Russia (1992-1997)" - Valentin Bazhanov, Studies in East European Thought, 1999.
*"Zhirinovsky: Russia's political eccentric" - , March 10, 2000.
*Russian Federation - Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive.*Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Website (in Russian)
*Council of Europe page
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