DATE=2/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA POL (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258820
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny
Primakov, once considered a leading contender for the
presidency, has decided not to run in next month's
presidential election. V-O-A Moscow Correspondent
Peter Heinlein reports the decision further increases
Acting President Vladimir Putin's chances of an easy
victory.
TEXT: Six months ago, Yevgeny Primakov was riding a
wave of popularity, considered one of the prime forces
in presidential elections that were then scheduled for
June this year.
But six months can be an eternity in Russian politics.
Today, after a coalition with which he aligned himself
was crushed in parliamentary elections, Mr. Primakov's
political fortunes have suffered a sharp reversal.
Instead, a name almost unknown to most Russians six
months ago, Vladimir Putin, is so far ahead in opinion
polls he is considered to have a lock on the
presidency.
So it came as little surprise when Mr. Primakov
announced he will not fight the Putin juggernaut in
the vote that has been moved forward, and is now only
seven weeks away.
But in bowing out of the race, the 70-year old former
diplomat and spy agency chief suggested he is deeply
disturbed at developments that have placed Mr. Putin
in the president's office even before the election.
/// PRIMAKOV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER
///
He says, "I have felt how far our society has moved
from a true democracy." With a touch of sadness in
his voice, he added that he does not believe the
situation could be radically changed in just a few
months.
Mr. Primakov said he had made up his mind not to
contest the election after seeing the way Acting
President Putin struck a controversial alliance last
month with the Communists in the Duma, or lower house
of parliament. The alliance effectively froze the
democratic opposition in the Duma out of power.
With Mr. Primakov out of the election, the only
question remaining is whether Vladimir Putin can win
the presidency without a runoff. Andrei Piontkowsky
of Moscow's Center for Strategic Studies, says even
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, the other main
presidential contender, appears to have accepted the
inevitability of a Putin victory.
/// PIONTKOWSKY ACT ///
All Russian political class is now claiming
loyalty to Putin. Even Zyuganov, in spite of
the fact that he's participating in the
campaign, practically made a deal with him after
sharing the leading post in the Duma.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Piontkowsky says the only other candidate still in
the race who opposes Mr. Putin on key issues such as
the economy and the war in Chechnya is liberal leader
Grigory Yavlinsky.
But recent polls suggest Mr. Yavlinsky will have a
difficult time mounting a serious challenge to the
acting president. The most recent survey indicates
Mr. Putin would get nearly 50 percent of the votes, as
compared to only about four percent for Mr. Yavlinsky.
(Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/ENE/JP
04-Feb-2000 10:52 AM EDT (04-Feb-2000 1552 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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