Vladimir Shumeiko, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, on Thursday stuck by his controversial proposal to delay parliamentary elections for two years but dodged the question of whether President Boris Yeltsin should have his term extended.


Shumeiko, a pugnacious Yeltsin ally well known for speaking his mind when others keep quiet, insisted that his idea, which he first floated in June, was "absolutely correct." He said parliament's current two-year term gave it no chance to get on its feet and there should be a nationwide referendum in which voters themselves could decide whether the polls due in December 1995 should be put back.


The idea has won the cautious backing of the speaker of the State Duma, Ivan Rybkin, but many Yeltsin supporters, including the reformist Russia's Choice faction in parliament, label it undemocratic and unacceptable.


Shumeiko did not say directly whether the other half of such a delay would be a postponement of the presidential elections due in 1996.


On Thursday he said only that there should be no question on presidential polls in the referendum.


"At the moment this question is not being raised," Shumeiko said. "As you know the president's term expires in 1996. When the time comes the question will be concluded."


But he pointed out that the Federation Council has the power under the constitution to fix presidential elections, a right which would give him and his chamber leverage over the decision.


Shumeiko said in June that the president should "stay for another term," although it was not clear whether he meant this should be through new elections or an extension of his existing term.


Yeltsin himself continues to insist that he will stay in office only until his mandate expires in 1996. He will not comment in public on whether he intends to run for a second term.


With no clear heir apparent to the president in sight, some of his more radical advisers say openly that Yeltsin's term should be extended. Gennady Burbulis, once Yeltsin's key strategist, said that the president should "roll up his sleeves" and stay on until 1998.