Yeltsin Moves to Reassert Authority

President Boris Yeltsin prepared to take control over the armed forces Wednesday in a move that appeared to aim at reasserting his authority over the Chechen crisis and distancing himself from the so-called "party of war."


In the Chechen capital, Grozny, rebel President Dzhokhar Dudayev emerged in public for the first time in more than a week and said that he was willing to hold peace talks with Moscow, amid new fighting in the city following the collapse of Tuesday's cease-fire (Story, Page 3).


Yeltsin also appeared to be in a more conciliatory mood as he met prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the speakers of the two houses of parliament Ivan Rybkin and Vladimir Shumeiko, all of whom have taken a pragmatic line on military involvement in Chechnya.


Thursday's edition of Izvestia said that Yeltsin had strongly criticized the conduct of the military operation in Chechnya and stressed that "it is necessary to take all measures to quickly begin a peace process."


Izvestia said that Chernomyrdin had been given overall control of the crisis, pushing out his hawkish first deputy prime minister Oleg Soskovets, who was coordinating the Chechen operation.


Itar-Tass reported Wednesday evening that Chernomyrdin was planning to visit the North Caucasus region "to study the situation and organize work to restore the Chechen economy and economic development of the region."


Many observers have named Soskovets and Yeltsin's chief bodyguard Alexander Korzhakov as the key axis in a "party of war" which favored a military crackdown in Chechnya. Yeltsin left conduct of the operation mostly in their hands in early December but lately he has been more active and relied more on the relatively moderate Chernomyrdin.


Korzhakov, in a rare press interview, defended himself against accusations and told the weekly Argumenty i Fakty that he had "never dealt in politics."


Shumeiko said that he, Rybkin and Chernomyrdin had agreed with Yeltsin that the general staff, the main operational command structure in the army, should be taken out of the control of the Defense Ministry and be made directly subordinate to the commander-in-chief, Yeltsin, according to Itar-Tass.


Rybkin told the State Duma, which spent the day in a turbulent debate on Chechnya but proved incapable of reaching any decisions, that he favored reestablishing the pre-revolutionary practice in Russia whereby one body had control of all men under arms in the country.


Both Rybkin and Shumeiko were elevated to become permanent members of Yeltsin's advisory Security Council Tuesday, giving them greater influence over the president.


Sergei Filatov, the president's chief of staff, also told Izvestia that the failure of the Chechen operation proved the need for reform in the armed forces.


"We have a good army," Filatov said. "But it's turned out that the coordination of its actions with political structures and with Interior Minister forces has been extremely unsatisfactory. There will be a serious conversation on that score and the president will draw conclusions."


The armed forces have badly bungled their attempts to reconquer Chechnya, embarrassing themselves and the Russian leadership before a critical media and public opinion.


The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, spent the whole day Wednesday in an unruly debate on the Chechen crisis and failed to discuss four draft laws giving the legislature more leverage over state decision making.


Rybkin called a halt to proceedings at 6:30 P.M. and postponed discussion of the draft laws until Friday. As the session broke up some deputies accused Rybkin and their colleagues of shirking their responsibilities.


During most of the session deputies indulged in mutual recrimination. The opposition constantly attacked reformist lawmakers for hypocrisy in supporting the storming of the White House in 1993 but condemning the military operation in Chechnya.


Many positions the parliament first convened were turned on their heads. Liberal deputy Gleb Yakunin declared that a "velvet genocide" was being carried out in Chechnya, which threatened Russian democracy.


"I was one of those who brought the president to power," Yakunin said. "Unfortunately he has now betrayed our democracy."


The one-time leader of the extremist opposition Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has spent most of the last year predicting the apocalyptic collapse of Russia and demanding the resignation of the government, told the Duma Wednesday that "everything is calm in our country."


Zhirinovsky has expressed steadfast support for the Chechen campaign, although he said it should have been carried out sooner.


"It is better for us to be in the Caucasus with this president, this government and this army," Zhirinovsky said.


Almost all other wings of the Duma condemned the way the military operation in Chechnya has been conducted. But on a provisional non-binding vote in the morning, none of four draft laws drawn up by the reformist Russia's Choice faction to make the Kremlin more accountable in his actions received enough support.


Vladimir Lukin, a prominent member of the Yabloko bloc, blamed Russia's Choice for not building a wide enough base for its anti-war policy.


"It was impossible to put it across on the basis of one faction," Lukin said of Russia's Choice's draft program. "They will have to be more skilful and cooperate with others in the future."