DATE=5/19/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-249565
TITLE=STEPASHIN PROFILE (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN'S CHOICE FOR PRIME
MINISTER, SERGEI STEPASHIN, WAS OVERWHELMINGLY CONFIRMED TO THE
POST WEDNESDAY. CORRESPONDENT EVE CONANT LOOKS AT RUSSIA'S NEW
PRIME MINISTER AND HIS POLICIES.
TEXT: SERGEI STEPASHIN EASILY WON APPROVAL FROM PARLIAMENT
WEDNESDAY AFTER PLEDGING TO ENACT TOUGH REFORMS TO IMPROVE THE
LIVES OF AVERAGE RUSSIANS.
///ACT STEPASHIN IN RUSSIAN -- AND FADE UNDER///
HE SAYS, "THERE IS NO TIME FOR HALF-HEARTED MEASURES. WE NEED TO
TAKE BOLD, YET CAREFULLY-CONSIDERED STEPS."
MR. STEPASHIN'S LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF ECONOMIC POLICY WAS LARGELY
IGNORED. BUT HIS BACKGROUND AS A POLICE OFFICER HAD MANY
CONCERNED THAT PRESIDENT YELTSIN MIGHT USE HIM TO ENFORCE
UNPOPULAR ECONOMIC MEASURES.
NEVERTHELESS, ANALYSTS PREDICTED AN EASY VICTORY FOR MR.
YELTSIN'S CANDIDATE. IF PARLIAMENT HAD REFUSED TO CONFIRM MR.
STEPASHIN, THE RUSSIAN LEADER WOULD HAVE HAD THE RIGHT TO
DISSOLVE THE ASSEMBLY AND CALL EARLY ELECTIONS.
FORMER INTERIOR MINISTER AND INTELLIGENCE CHIEF STEPASHIN IS
MOSTLY KNOWN FOR HIS TIME-PROVEN LOYALTY TO PRESIDENT YELTSIN --
A POINT HE EMPHASIZED TO LAWMAKERS PRIOR TO THE VOTE.
///SECOND STEPASHIN ACT IN RUSSIAN -- ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER///
HE SAYS "REGARDLESS OF ANY POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, I WILL NEVER
ACT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT OR BETRAY HIM." HE SAYS "THIS WOULD BE
UNWORTHY OF ANY PERSON, ESPECIALLY AN OFFICER."
//OPT// RUSSIA'S NEW PRIME MINISTER HAS A LAW DEGREE AND HAS
SERVED ALMOST 20 YEARS UNDER SOVIET AND NOW RUSSIAN POLICE
FORCES. //END OPT//
MR. STEPASHIN ENTERED POLITICS IN 1990, BUT QUICKLY RENOUNCED HIS
MEMBERSHIP IN THE ILL-FATED COMMUNIST PARTY, AND JOINED FORCES
WITH THE RISING STAR OF BORIS YELTSIN.
IN 1994 MR. STEPASHIN BECAME HEAD OF THE FEDERAL
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE SERVICE. ONE YEAR LATER HE PERSUADED
PRESIDENT YELTSIN TO TRANSFORM IT INTO WHAT WOULD BECOME THE
FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE, AND TO RESTORE MANY OF ITS K-G-B-ERA
POWERS.
MR. STEPASHIN IS ALSO WELL-KNOWN AS ONE OF THE GENERALS WHO
PUSHED PRESIDENT YELTSIN INTO LAUNCHING RUSSIA'S 1994 CIVIL WAR
WITH THE BREAKAWAY REGION OF CHECHNYA. TENS OF THOUSANDS, DIED
IN THE CONFLICT -- MOST OF THEM CIVILIANS -- BUT THE ISSUE OF
CHECHNYA'S INDEPENDENCE IS STILL UNRESOLVED.
//OPT// MR. STEPASHIN SERVED BRIEFLY AS RUSSIA'S JUSTICE
MINISTER, BUT MOST RECENTLY HELD THE POST OF INTERIOR MINISTER.
DURING HIS 13 MONTHS AS RUSSIA'S TOP POLICE OFFICER, MR.
STEPASHIN DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF MORE AS A DEFENDER OF PRESIDENT
BORIS YELTSIN THAN AS A CRIME-FIGHTER.
WHEN COMMUNIST LEADER GENNADY ZUGANOV CALLED MR. YELTSIN A
"SPINELESS DRUNK," MR. STEPASHIN CALLED FOR A CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATION INTO THE LAWMAKER. WHEN RUSSIA'S PROSECUTOR GENERAL
ANNOUNCED HE HAD COMPROMISING MATERIALS ON THE PRESIDENT'S INNER
CIRCLE, INTERIOR MINISTER STEPASHIN WAS THERE TO CAST DOUBTS ON
THE CORRUPTION CHARGE. //END OPT//
SERGEI STEPASHIN WILL BE RUSSIA'S FOURTH PRIME MINISTER IN LITTLE
OVER A YEAR. MANY OF THE LAWMAKERS WHO CONFIRMED HIM ARE NOT
OVERLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT HIS PROSPECTS FOR PULLING RUSSIA OUT OF
ITS ECONOMIC CRISIS. AS THEY FILED OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING
WEDNESDAY, MANY SIMPLY WONDERED HOW LONG MR. STEPASHIN WILL LAST
IN OFFICE. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/PCF
19-May-99 10:33 AM EDT (1433 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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