Associated Press - 09/24/98
MOSCOW (AP) -- Alexander Lebed, one of Russia's most influential politicians, called today for the resignation of President Boris
Yeltsin and his entire Cabinet.
Lebed, the governor of the vast Krasnoyarsk region, has long been critical of Yeltsin. But he has voiced support recently for the new
prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov, who is still assembling a Cabinet.
During a just-concluded visit to France, Lebed said, he was told by French business leaders that Russia ''would not get a single
dollar'' so long as Yeltsin remains in power, the Interfax news agency reported.
A likely presidential candidate himself, Lebed said the entire government should be replaced with a group that can be trusted and
doesn't have ''the previous frauds,'' Interfax said.
Lebed, a former general who once served as Yeltsin's national security chief, also said former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
has little chance at winning the next presidential election in 2000.
Chernomyrdin, who twice failed to win approval from Russia's parliament as Russia's prime minister in a government shakeup last
month, is not seen as popular among ordinary Russians.
''After the fiasco Chernomyrdin suffered in the Duma, one can hardly expect a success,'' Lebed said, according to the ITAR-Tass
news agency. ''He will not become president.''
Lebed still refuses to say whether he plans to run in the 2000 election. |
