#15
Zhirinovsky cleans up his act, loves America
By Richard Balmforth

MOSCOW, Jan 15 (Reuters) - His anti-Western rhetoric, xenophobic utterings and appetite for the outrageous made him everybody's favourite whipping boy in the West.

But after eight years of hating Uncle Sam, Russian nationalist bad boy Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky now says he's learning to love America -- and he's sounding cooler about his old friend, Saddam Hussein, too.

In a political U-turn, the flamboyant populist, who once denounced U.S. policy-makers as "hooligans and cowards" under the influence of drugs, now declares: "We want cooperation with the United States on all positions."

Widely-regarded as a touchstone for Kremlin policy in spite of his clownish antics, Zhirinovsky's sudden conversion seems to be the surest indication yet that President Vladimir Putin's new pro-Washington line is here to stay.

Between shots of "Russky Standard" vodka and forkfuls of salmon at an American fast-food restaurant in Moscow, 55-year-old Zhirinovsky rapped out his message on the table-top with the flat of his hand.

"We are removing all anti-Americanism from our programme. We are removing the anti-Western feeling," he told Reuters.

With a radically-changed mood in Russia after the September 11 attacks on the United States and an eye to parliamentary elections in two years' time, he admitted he was driven by political expediency.

"There's no future in saying, like the communists,: 'Down with NATO, Down with the U.S., Down with the West.' Let's be honest. Who are we going to be with in the future? With bin Laden? With the Chinese?," he asked.

On the face of it, it is a huge turnaround for a politician who led his Liberal Democratic Party of Russia to election triumph in 1993 after a campaign of vitriolic anti-Western rhetoric and extremist comments that earned him the label of fascist and anti-Semitic.

That victory, in which the LDPR took almost a quarter of seats in the State Duma, spooked the Kremlin and jolted world financial markets at the prospect of a far-right resurgence led by a man who had been dismissed as a publicity-seeking clown.

Zhirinovsky's star has waned since then and his party now holds only 17 seats in the 450-seat assembly. But he remains a fixture on the political scene and is a deputy speaker in the Duma.

WANTS TO CLEAN UP ACT

His move to tap pro-American feeling in Russia is the more abrupt since he appeared to be anti-Washington even shortly after the September attacks. His faction refused to join other Duma deputies in standing in memory of those killed.

Seated before a wall-poster of New York harbour and the Statue of Liberty, Zhirinovsky defended that move saying foreign parliaments had made no such gesture towards Russia over the Kursk submarine tragedy or other disasters.

But -- while losing none of his combative, fast-talking panache and his showman style -- he's decided he has to clean up his act if he is to survive politically.

On his relations with Saddam Hussein whom he visits frequently, he said defensively that his courting of the Iraqi leader had been motivated by close economic ties.

"If Iraq did not owe Russia (so many) dollars, I would not have been friends with anyone," he said.

Saying he wanted to help the West transform Iraq's "dictatorial regime," he proposed sending Russian forces to Baghdad to help ensure a transition to a more democratic leadership.

"In two or three years' time, I can guarantee you the regime will be democratic, there will be a multi-party system, the economy will be free and Saddam will step down," he said.

DENIES ANTI-SEMITIC CHARGE

Equally, he is at pains to deny charges of anti-Semitism, though attacks on "Zionists" studded his Russian nationalist diatribes and he still says there are too many Jews holding top posts in Russia.

"My mother was Russian, my father was Jewish. His name was Eidelshtein," he said, jabbing his finger at black-and-white photographs of his parents in a copy of his latest book "Ivan, Close Your Soul."

"There cannot be any anti-Semitism in the party when my father was Jewish," he added.

Arguing that he reflects the views of ordinary Russians, he said: "I don't say that Jews are bad, but simply there are not enough Russians around. Let's add a few more Russians, let's say, a few more Russian ministers. Jews are talented and clever. But there are very many of them at the top..."

KREMLIN CONTROL?

Cold-shouldered by several Western countries, he said Britain had been sitting on a visa request from him for three months.

Even under Boris Yeltsin, Zhirinovsky acted as a lightning conductor to draw fire away from Kremlin policy and siphon off support for the communists.

In the eight years that the LDPR has been an effective force, its deputies have rarely voted against Kremlin policy and Zhirinovsky describes his party as only "half-opposition."

"We support 70 per cent of what Putin is doing," he said.

By that token, the Kremlin will want his party to perform well enough in the December 2003 elections to secure the five percent of the vote needed to maintain a presence in the Duma.

Can Zhirinovsky, who has drawn much of his support by appealing to the gut instinct of the man in the street, clean up his act and, at the same time, retain his constituency ?

He thinks he can. "In December 2003 any normal person will vote for the LDPR. I can get 25 per cent of the vote. I am not bluffing. In the present circumstances it is better for Russia to be with the West. My electors will understand me."

He has made his political livelihood out of committing outrageous acts and voicing the politically incorrect.

Does all this mean an end to Zhirinovsky the showman? That remains to be seen.