President Boris Yeltsin, while keeping the nation in suspense on his plans for the future, accused Russia's highest legislature Monday of trying to roll back democracy and bring the "Communist nomenclature" back to power.
A statement Monday from Yeltsin's press spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov, said that the president would make his response to the emergency session of the Congress of People's Deputies public "in the next few days".
But Kostikov made the president's feelings clear, accusing the Congress of "infringing the Constitution" in an attempt to "bring the Communist nomenclature back to the helm of the country and to take back the democratic achievements of August 1991".
He said the president had received numerous letters and telegrams from across the country asking him to "defend democracy and stop the restoration of communism". Other aides have said that Yeltsin plans to hold a nonbinding opinion poll on Russia's political future on April 25.
Some response from Yeltsin had been expected after the Congress ended its four-day session Saturday, having severely cut back the president's powers and rejected his plans for a referendum to resolve the struggle between the two branches of government.
But although Yeltsin's aides had raised expectations that he might address the nation on television as early as last Friday, the president retired to his dacha outside Moscow over the weekend and made no statement.
Yeltsin returned to the Kremlin on Monday in preparation for a one-day visit by President Francois Mitterrand of France. The talks Tuesday will be opportune for both leaders, as Mitterrand faces tough elections at home Sunday, and Yeltsin now faces perhaps his most difficult political challenge since the August 1991 coup. The drama enacted at the Congress was relayed into the streets over the weekend as several thousand Communist and pro-Yeltsin demonstrators faced off in Moscow. No incidents were reported.
The Congress concluded Saturday with an emotional speech from speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, who attacked Yeltsin for alleged abuse of the Constitution and said it was a myth that the Congress's opposition to the president would block Western aid.
Kostikov's statement Monday also drew an angry response from the speaker. "It is precisely the legislature that operates within the framework of the constitution, and is the guarantor of democratic gains", Khasbulatov's spokesman, Konstantin Zlobin, said.
With both sides claiming support from the Brezhnev-era Constitution, the chief arbitrator of such disputes, Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, left on a one-week visit to the United States on Sunday night. There he is due to meet with justices of the U. S. Supreme Court and President Bill Clinton.
Zorkin had tried to mediate an agreement between Yeltsin and Khasbulatov after the president stormed out of the session Friday, but apparently without success. Yeltsin did not return Saturday.
Having stripped Yeltsin of the special powers given to him a year ago, the Congress overwhelmingly voted to stop his plans for a referendum and to shelve proposals for early elections - both of which were designed to break the political deadlock.
As the Congress broke up, officials on both sides, including the close presidential aide Sergei Shakhrai and the hardline legislator Sergei Baburin, were warning of the threat to Russia's unity and even of civil war.
Both men warned that as the battle between the two branches of power intensifies in the center, the leaders of Russia's 83 regions and 19 republics will use the opportunity politically and economically to go their own way.
"The president's team and parliamentary leadership are repeating the same mistaken path that Mikhail Gorbachev took", Oleg Rumyantsev, chairman of parliament's Constitutional Commission, said Monday. "If the federal government can't defend Russia's general interests, then disintegration begins".
Rumyantsev said that the Congress had returned to a "Soviet mentality dominated by anti-intellectualism, xenophobia and conservatism". But he also praised new powers granted to the cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, giving it greater control over monetary policy and the power to introduce legislation independently of Yeltsin.
"You can't have reform depend on the subjective views of one person", said Rumyantsev.
Speaking during a visit to the Baltic coast on Monday, Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev played down the long-term effects of the Congress.
"You should not bury the democrats and democracy", he said in a speech to Russian sailors in the Baltic port of Kaliningrad. "The most important thing is that the war of words does not turn into armed civil strife".
A statement Monday from Yeltsin's press spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov, said that the president would make his response to the emergency session of the Congress of People's Deputies public "in the next few days".
But Kostikov made the president's feelings clear, accusing the Congress of "infringing the Constitution" in an attempt to "bring the Communist nomenclature back to the helm of the country and to take back the democratic achievements of August 1991".
He said the president had received numerous letters and telegrams from across the country asking him to "defend democracy and stop the restoration of communism". Other aides have said that Yeltsin plans to hold a nonbinding opinion poll on Russia's political future on April 25.
Some response from Yeltsin had been expected after the Congress ended its four-day session Saturday, having severely cut back the president's powers and rejected his plans for a referendum to resolve the struggle between the two branches of government.
But although Yeltsin's aides had raised expectations that he might address the nation on television as early as last Friday, the president retired to his dacha outside Moscow over the weekend and made no statement.
Yeltsin returned to the Kremlin on Monday in preparation for a one-day visit by President Francois Mitterrand of France. The talks Tuesday will be opportune for both leaders, as Mitterrand faces tough elections at home Sunday, and Yeltsin now faces perhaps his most difficult political challenge since the August 1991 coup. The drama enacted at the Congress was relayed into the streets over the weekend as several thousand Communist and pro-Yeltsin demonstrators faced off in Moscow. No incidents were reported.
The Congress concluded Saturday with an emotional speech from speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, who attacked Yeltsin for alleged abuse of the Constitution and said it was a myth that the Congress's opposition to the president would block Western aid.
Kostikov's statement Monday also drew an angry response from the speaker. "It is precisely the legislature that operates within the framework of the constitution, and is the guarantor of democratic gains", Khasbulatov's spokesman, Konstantin Zlobin, said.
With both sides claiming support from the Brezhnev-era Constitution, the chief arbitrator of such disputes, Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, left on a one-week visit to the United States on Sunday night. There he is due to meet with justices of the U. S. Supreme Court and President Bill Clinton.
Zorkin had tried to mediate an agreement between Yeltsin and Khasbulatov after the president stormed out of the session Friday, but apparently without success. Yeltsin did not return Saturday.
Having stripped Yeltsin of the special powers given to him a year ago, the Congress overwhelmingly voted to stop his plans for a referendum and to shelve proposals for early elections - both of which were designed to break the political deadlock.
As the Congress broke up, officials on both sides, including the close presidential aide Sergei Shakhrai and the hardline legislator Sergei Baburin, were warning of the threat to Russia's unity and even of civil war.
Both men warned that as the battle between the two branches of power intensifies in the center, the leaders of Russia's 83 regions and 19 republics will use the opportunity politically and economically to go their own way.
"The president's team and parliamentary leadership are repeating the same mistaken path that Mikhail Gorbachev took", Oleg Rumyantsev, chairman of parliament's Constitutional Commission, said Monday. "If the federal government can't defend Russia's general interests, then disintegration begins".
Rumyantsev said that the Congress had returned to a "Soviet mentality dominated by anti-intellectualism, xenophobia and conservatism". But he also praised new powers granted to the cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, giving it greater control over monetary policy and the power to introduce legislation independently of Yeltsin.
"You can't have reform depend on the subjective views of one person", said Rumyantsev.
Speaking during a visit to the Baltic coast on Monday, Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev played down the long-term effects of the Congress.
"You should not bury the democrats and democracy", he said in a speech to Russian sailors in the Baltic port of Kaliningrad. "The most important thing is that the war of words does not turn into armed civil strife".
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.
Remind me later.
×
Remind me next month
Thank you! Your reminder is set.
We will send you one reminder email a month from now. For details on the personal data we collect and how it is used, please see our Privacy Policy.