From: Michael Hoover <hoov-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us> Subject: M-I: Fwd: From Boris Kagalistsky Date: Thu, 3 Jul 97 19:31:27 18000 Forwarded message: > Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 18:51:52 -0400 > From: Kit A Wainer <wainer-AT-JUNO.COM> > Subject: Fwd: From Boris Kagarlitsky > To: SLDRTY-L-AT-LISTSERV.SYR.EDU > > For your information > Boris Kagarlitsky > > Russia in June 1997 > > President Boris Yeltsin has a well-known knack for making use of > crises, > including those he has provoked himself, in order to strengthen his > power. > Sensing that during the time of his illness the government, the > parliament > and local authorities acquired significant > independence, Yeltsin has begun a systematic offensive against them. > Decisive > roles in this offensive are being played by vice-premiers Anatoly Chubais > and > Boris Nemtsov, who are totally dependent on the president. > Chubais, who enjoys the support of the largest Moscow banks, has > managed > while in various posts to implant a significant number of his friends and > supporters in the state apparatus; this is something that > cannot fail to worry Prime Minister Chernomyrdin. But Chubais, since he > is > equally unpopular in the government, the parliament and in popular > opinion, > cannot pursue his own course without the help of the president. Meanwhile > Nemtsov as a novice in the politics of the capital has neither a base in > the > apparatus, nor a political following, nor even independent channels for > access to information, and is therefore completely subject to Yeltsin and > Chubais. Evidence of the weakness of Nemtsov's position is provided by > the > fact that after several months he still has not been able to obtain > resident's registration in an apartment which the government has bought > for > him in Moscow. In his native Nizhny Novgorod, the gubernatorial election > campaign has turned into an obvious dividing-up of his legacy. The > favourite > of the local entrepreneurs, Nizhny Novgorod mayor Sklyarov, appealed for > support not to his former patron but to Moscow mayor Luzhkov, who is in > sharp > conflict with Nemtsov. Another strong candidate is State Duma deputy > Khodyrev, who is backed by the Communists and who is counting on support > in > the second round from a > number of associations of local "democrats". > Another round of reshufflings has begun in the armed forces; the > purpose > is clearly to strengthen the president's personal control over those > military > units that retain their fighting capacity. The summer has also become the > time when the president, with help from the "young vice-premiers", has > put > pressure simultaneously on the State Duma and the provincial governors. > The > crisis in the Maritime District, where the energy complex has totally > collapsed, has been used to strip the elected governor Nazdratenko of > real > power. The crisis in the Maritime District was provoked by a whole range > of > factors, both local (the unremitting power struggle in the region between > Nazdratenko and his rivals), and also national (the collapse of transport > and > the weakening of ties with European Russia; the halt to the central > financing > of projects for the development of the defence complex and of remote > territories; the general crisis of the energy sector, and non-payments > between enterprises). While doing nothing to solve the overall national > problems linked to the crisis in the Maritime District (there is simply > not > the money to do this), the central authorities in turn have devoted most > of > their attention to crisis factors of a local character. Nazdratenko was > for > practical purposes forced to hand over all his powers to the president's > representative, State Security Service general Kondratov, and to give an > account of his actions to Nemtsov, who had arrived from the capital. > At the same time the mass media, which have traditionally been > linked to > the Chubais group, have begun a campaign for the early dissolution of the > State Duma. The press has also been giving extensive space to the > question of > changing the electoral law and abolishing proportional representation, a > suggestion being received extremely unfavourably by the leaders of the > duma > fractions. > In fact, there is no question of the parliament really being > dissolved > (Moscow News and several other newspapers close to the authorities have > already pointed this out), since the government is just as uninterested > in > seeing new elections as are the deputies. What is happening is that the > Duma > is being reminded of the necessity to heed the views of the president, on > pain of coming to an unpleasant end. The present Duma deputies feel > extremely > insecure, precisely for the reason that under pressure from the executive > power, they have accepted responsibility over the past year for a whole > series of unpopular decisions. Now the deputies are being called on to > support the tax code and the sequestering of the budget. If the > government's > projects are approved, the popularity of the deputies in the current > parliament will fall still further, and this will finally turn them into > hostages of the current authorities. A further humiliation for the > Communist > majority in the Duma is > Yeltsin's public pledge to demolish the tomb of Lenin on Red Square. > A third target of the president's offensive has been the local > authorities in the capital. From 1993 to 1997 Mayor Luzhkov, despite > being a > loyal supporter of Yeltsin, pursued quite independent policies in Moscow, > policies that often contradicted those being implemented at the federal > level. A presidential monitoring group found numerous breaches of Russian > laws in the capital. Luzhkov's presidential ambitions are also well > known. > This time the conflict has been sparked by the mayor's unwillingness > to > implement housing and communal reform, which in the view of the municipal > leadership is fraught with a dramatic increase in social tensions. The > Moscow > city government cites the experience of St Petersburg. The housing reform > in > St Petersburg was supposed to free the city budget from the burden of > subsidising housing stock, but after it began the total sum paid out in > various forms of compensation rose sharply, while the overall flow of > revenues into the budget underwent just as sharp a decline (if prior to > the > reform about 15 per cent of the population was incapable of paying rent, > after the reform this number rose to about half). Luzhkov criticised the > government on a whole range of issues, including foreign policy. However, > the > response to Luzhkov came not from Chubais and Chernomyrdin, but from the > president, who demanded publicly and very sharply that the mayor "not > enter > into conflict with the government". At the same time various checks were > made > on the activity of the Moscow administration (to drive home the message, > former governor Sevryugin in Tula was arrested for taking bribes). > That Luzhkov understood the hint is clear from a speech he gave at a > ceremony awarding him a state prize for his services in the field of > culture. > In traditional Soviet style he declared that for all the achievements > registered in the capital in the field of culture and art, Moscow > residents > were obliged to the unfailing efforts of President Yeltsin, a true friend > of > the artistic community. -- --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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