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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (8916)	3/27/1998 7:55:00 AM
From: kimberley	Respond to of 116762

And I yours!

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (8916)	3/29/1998 12:15:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116762

Now it is a good chance that Russian communists will take a stand in power struggle unleashing wall of worry on the West (totally justified worry I must add) Ex-PM May Have Caught Kremlin Off Guard 11:51 a.m. Mar 29, 1998 Eastern By Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW (Reuters) - There were growing signs on Sunday that ex-prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's decision to stand for the Russian presidency caught the Kremlin off guard and that Boris Yeltsin has yet to decide whether to back him. In another twist to Russia's convoluted political drama, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said his party would not back young, untested Sergei Kiriyenko to take over as prime minister, a heartbeat from the presidency of the vast nuclear-armed state. Yeltsin last week named Kiriyenko, 35, to take over as prime minister from the veteran Chernomyrdin to give reforms a boost. He threatened on Friday to dissolve the State Duma lower house of parliament, where the Communists are the largest faction, unless it backed his choice. By Saturday, Chernomyrdin had muddied the waters further by announcing unexpectedly he would stand in the presidential election in the year 2000. He said in a television interview: ''Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin and I discussed this, and I understood that he agreed with my position.'' But Interfax news agency, quoting two apparently different sources in the presidential administration, said Chernomyrdin did not necessarily have Yeltsin's unequivocal blessing and that Saturday's announcement was ''somewhat unexpected.'' The agency, which has high-level access in the Kremlin, quoted an unnamed administration official as saying the 67-year-old president had known Chernomyrdin intended to stand but did not make clear whether he was privy to the timing. Yeltsin has not yet ''worked out his attitude toward this step by the former premier,'' it quoted the official as saying. But he would soon make his views known, it added. Yeltsin's next scheduled public appearance is when he meets visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday. The Russian leader then meets Namibian President Sam Nujoma in Moscow on Tuesday. Interfax quoted the official as saying it was too early to say whether Yeltsin saw Chernomyrdin as his successor. The representative noted the Constitutional Court had yet to rule whether Yeltsin can theoretically stand for a third term. Even if it says he can, Yeltsin has yet to say categorically whether he would run. ''With this in mind...Chernomyrdin's statement 'should not be interpreted as if the president has authorized him to run in the 2000 election as the sole representative of the party of power and the present president','' Interfax quoted the aide as saying. Chernomyrdin's Our Home is Russia political grouping has hitherto been known as the party of power because it derived its influence from having the then prime minister as its leader. A Kremlin press service spokesman, contacted by telephone, said he had no comment on the Interfax reports and did not even know whether the president had seen the television interview. He said Yeltsin was out at his Gorky-9 residence near Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky could not be reached. This week had already promised to be another hot one for Russia. The Duma is likely to consider Kiriyenko's candidacy on Friday, and Zyuganov's dismissive comments appeared to increase the likelihood of a showdown between Yeltsin and the Duma. Zyuganov told Interfax it would be reckless to install an such an inexperienced politician as Kiriyenko. ''You cannot confirm just anyone in the post of second in charge of the country,'' he said. ''With a seriously ill president, the situation could arise where the prime minister would have to take charge of the nuclear suitcase.'' ''Entrusting this to some inexperienced figure would be the height of irresponsibility -- something that those pushing Sergei Kiriyenko forward for prime minister refuse to acknowledge,'' he said. Yeltsin has sweeping powers under the constitution to dissolve parliament if it votes three times against his candidate, or candidates, for prime minister. That would mean an early election. But some analysts doubt whether the Communists will call Yeltsin's bluff and risk dissolution as they may struggle to match their strong showing in the last parliamentary poll in 1995. In past confrontations, the Communists, who hold 138 of the Duma's 450 seats, have tended to pull back from the brink rather than give Yeltsin an excuse to dissolve the chamber. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.