Here is one general waiting to be elected if Russia slides into crisis hitting the masses (ruble devaluation).
KRASNOYARSK, Russia, May 18 (AFP) - Alexander Lebed, the
would-be president who has revived his Kremlin aspirations with an
election win in Siberia, is a former military man turned political
maverick, a formidable loner utterly convinced he will rule Russia
one day.
With his broken nose and trademark sandpaper voice, Lebed, 48,
has growled his brand of no-nonsense nationalism to eager listeners
across Russia ever since he burst onto the political scene two years
ago as everybody's favourite tip for the top job.
And after strolling to victory in Sunday's election for the
governor of the vast Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, Lebed's
super-confident declarations such as "I'm a born winner" and "I
shall be president," have suddenly gained extra resonance.
For the political and financial backing of a regional governor,
coupled with the enormous grass-roots support for a man who garnered
11 million votes in Russia's 1996 presidential elections, trumpet an
unambiguous message: after 18 months in the political wilderness
Lebed is back.
Sensitive to the suspicions of carpet-bagging which have hung
over his election campaign, Lebed has stressed that it is
Krasnoyarsk and not the Kremlin which he is interested in.
"I see no reason for me to aspire to this post," he said of the
presidency, on learning of his impressive win Sunday.
"A big and difficult job awaits me," he added. "I have been
given a mandate to govern and I will do it in a reasonable and
circumspect manner because the people have had enough and for many
of them this is the last hope."
But in an ominous aside, the man who has been compared to
Chile's General Augusto Pinochet, added: "From now on I will carry
more weight in Moscow, without a doubt."
Sunday's victory caps a series of successes which date back to
his career in the army, when Lebed shot to prominence as the can-do
paratroop general with an anti-establishment reputation.
His blunt remarks and emphasis on law-and-order reflect his
origins as a Cossack from the southern city of Novocherkassk, where
a historic frontier mentality has translated in a strong cult of
nationalism-tinged machismo.
Lebed became a general at 38, and soon emerged as a national
hero as the implacable commander of the 14th Army in the ex-Soviet
republic of Moldova, where his forces quashed a war between ethnic
Russian separatists and government forces in 1992.
In 1991, he took part in the defence of the Russian parliament
building against a hardline putsch aimed at preserving the Soviet
Union.
But his record also reflects the darker side of a career in the
Soviet armed forces.
In addition to his service as a paratrooper in the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan, he took part in the bloody suppression of
an independence demonstration in Baku in January 1990 in which about
100 people were killed and many more injured.
Lebed's popularity in the army gave him the confidence to take
on the politicians, and after his success in the 1996 presidential
elections, he was coopted by President Boris Yeltsin into the
Kremlin inner circle.
A brief but action-packed four-month stint as national security
chief ensued, during which time Lebed clinched a peace deal with
Chechen separatist leaders, ending 21 months of brutal conflict in
the breakaway North Caucasus republic of Chechnya.
His Moldovan and Chechen successes earned Lebed a reputation for
unflappable determination and integrity -- key qualities for any
would-be president.
But his abrasive, loose-cannon style earned him few friends in
the presidential circle, and Lebed was ousted in October 1996.
His power base vanishing and his media star on the wane, Lebed
has had to content himself ever since with trying to court favour
abroad, seeking to reassure western leaders concerned about his
nationalist platform and convince the world that he is presidential
material.
He has continued to steer an independent course, wooing voters
with his plain-speaking attacks on crime and corruption, a
charismatic tough-guy media image and staunch patriotism.
A nature lover, Lebed is fond of solitary pursuits such as
creative writing and walking his dog. Lebed is married to Inna, and
has three children. |
