DATE=9/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA POL/PRIMAKOV (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253517
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: One of Russia's most popular political
figures, former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, says
he is seriously considering a run for the presidency
next year. Correspondent Peter Heinlein in Moscow
reports Mr. Primakov is preparing to re-enter public
life after an absence of several months.
TEXT: In a televised interview, the 69-year-old
former spymaster, foreign minister, and prime minister
avoided the question on the minds of Russian political
observers.
Mr. Primakov last month agreed to run for parliament
at the head of an alliance involving powerful Moscow
mayor Yuri Luzhkov and a group of influential regional
leaders.
Mayor Luzhkov is known to have presidential ambitions
of his own, but has said he would step aside if his
older and more experienced colleague decides to run.
Mr. Primakov says he has simply not decided.
/// PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN - ESTABLISH
AND UNDER ///
He says -- you see, there are a lot of variables to be
taken into account. He then paused and said -- well,
I never make hasty decisions.
// OPT //
As for the parliamentary elections, Mr. Primakov said
his potential allies must be to the center of Russia's
political spectrum -- no Communists and no one who
advocates a rapid privatization of state resources.
/// 2ND PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN FULL
AND UNDER ///
He says -- we cannot have as companions those who want
to turn the clock back to the totalitarian regime, or
the command economic system. But, he adds -- there
are those pseudo liberals, the so-called Chicago boys,
who deny the regulatory role of the state. We can not
have them as our companions either."
On another subject, Mr. Primakov says he is recovering
well after recent hip-replacement surgery. During his
final days in government, he could barely walk.
He said he was pleased to receive a get-well greeting
from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, but chided
his former counterpart and colleague, with all the
intelligence at her disposal, for getting bad
information about his illness.
/// 3RD PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN; IN FULL
AND UNDER ///
He says -- I was moved by her warm letter, but she
should tell the C-I-A they gave her the wrong
information. The surgery was not on my back, but on
my leg.
// END OPT //
Mr. Primakov indicated he would take his time making
his plans for the future, since presidential elections
are still nine-months away. But that could all be
thrown into a different gear if the political buzz on
the streets of Moscow is to be believed.
Published reports the past few days suggest President
Boris Yeltsin is considering a surprise early
resignation. That would advance the presidential
election to December -- the same time as the
parliamentary vote and the race for Moscow mayor.
Observers say a resignation has several possible
advantages for Mr. Yeltsin and the Kremlin team as
they try to hold on to power.
For one, it throws the opposition into disarray.
Moreover, it places new strains on Mr. Yeltsin's
rival, Mayor Luzhkov, who had hoped to use the next
nine-months to build a nationwide political machine.
It also puts severe strains and on the mayor's budding
relationship with his newfound ally, Mr. Primakov, and
could force Mr. Primakov to do something he says he
never does -- make a hasty decision. (SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/PCF/RAE
06-Sep-1999 12:52 PM LOC (06-Sep-1999 1652 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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