DATE=5/19/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2249557-
TITLE=RUSSIA POLITICS (L)
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: RUSSIA'S PARLIAMENT HAS CONFIRMED SERGEI STEPASHIN AS
PRIME MINISTER. THE VOTE WAS 293 TO 55. VOA'S PETER HEINLEIN
REPORTS FROM MOSCOW THE VOTE CAME DESPITE MR. STEPASHIN'S PLEDGE
TO CARRY OUT UNPOPULAR ECONOMIC REFORMS.
TEXT: IN A SWIFT AND DECISIVE ACTION, THE DUMA, OR LOWER HOUSE,
PUT ASIDE ITS OPPOSITION OF PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN AND
OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED THE STEPASHIN NOMINATION. THE VOTE CAME
AFTER ONLY A BRIEF AND SURPRISINGLY QUIET DEBATE IN WHICH NONE OF
THE MAIN DUMA FACTIONS OBJECTED TO MR. STEPASHIN'S CANDIDACY.
///OPT// MINUTES AFTER THE VOTE, PRESIDENT YELTSIN SIGNED A
DECREE MAKING THE NOMINATION OFFICIAL. ///END OPT///
IN A SPEECH TO LAWMAKERS BEFORE THE BALLOTING, MR. STEPASHIN
PLEDGED TO CONTINUE MOST OF THE POLICIES OF HIS POPULAR
PREDECESSOR, YEVGENY PRIMAKOV. BUT MR. STEPASHIN, WHO SERVED AS
INTERIOR MINISTER IN THE PRIMAKOV GOVERNMENT, SAID HE WILL TAKE A
MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO CRIME FIGHTING AND ECONOMIC
REFORM.
///STEPASHIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO...///
HE SAYS "THERE IS NO ROOM FOR HALF MEASURES AND COMPROMISES.
TIME DEMANDS COURAGEOUS AND CAREFULLY CONTROLLED STEPS."
///OPT/// MR. STEPASHIN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HIS PREVIOUS JOBS AS
INTERIOR MINISTER AND AS HEAD OF ONE OF RUSSIA'S MAIN
INTELLIGENCE SERVICES HAD GIVEN HIM A TOUGH-GUY IMAGE. BUT HE
ASSURED LAWMAKERS HE HAS NO INTENTION OF TURNING THE COUNTRY
INTO A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP.
///SECOND STEPASHIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO...///
HE SAYS "I WILL NOT USE ANY EMERGENCY MEASURES. SOME PEOPLE
HAVE TRIED TO CAST MY APPOINTMENT AS 'LOOK, HERE COMES A GENERAL
WITH A STRONG HAND. RUSSIA IS ON THE THRESHOLD OF DICTATORSHIP.'"
MR. STEPASHIN NOTED THAT HE HAD EVEN BEEN COMPARED BY SOME
CRITICS TO THE FORMER CHILEAN DICTATOR AUGUSTO PINOCHET. BUT HE
SAID "I AM NOT GENERAL PINOCHET. MY NAME IS STEPASHIN".
THE SPEECH APPEARED TO BE WELL-ACCEPTED IN THE COMMUNIST AND
HARDLINER-DOMINATED DUMA. DURING THE DEBATE THAT FOLLOWED,
COMMUNIST LEADER GENNADY ZYUGANOV WAS UNUSUALLY RESTRAINED. HE
TOLD THE NOMINEE "I AM FAR FROM SURE THEY WILL LET YOU WORK, BUT
YOUR DESIRE TO CARRY THE GREAT BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS IS WORTHY
OF PRAISE." ///END OPT///
THE SURPRISINGLY SOLID VOTE OF SUPPORT FOR MR. STEPASHIN PUTS A
QUICK END TO WHAT ONLY DAYS EARLIER WAS BEING DESCRIBED AS A
MAJOR POLITICAL CRISIS IN RUSSIA. JUST A WEEK AGO, LAWMAKERS WERE
THREATENING TO BEGIN IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT
YELTSIN, AND ACCEPTANCE OF ANY NOMINEE SEEMED LIKE A LONG SHOT.
BUT AFTER THE IMPEACHMENT MOTION FAILED, LAWMAKERS APPEARED TO
WANT TO AVOID ANOTHER CONFRONTATION WITH MR. YELTSIN.
RUSSIA IS STILL STRUGGLING TO RECOVER FROM THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
THAT STRUCK LAST AUGUST, FORCING A SHARP DEVALUATION OF THE RUBLE
AND A DEFAULT ON SOME FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC LOANS. WHEN HE FIRED
PRIME MINISTER PRIMAKOV LAST WEEK, PRESIDENT YELTSIN SAID HIS
MAIN REASON WAS THE PRIMAKOV GOVERNMENT'S LACK OF PROGRESS IN
ADDRESSING ECONOMIC ISSUES. (SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/PCF
19-May-99 7:11 AM EDT (1111 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
