DATE=3/28/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=THE RUSSIAN ELECTION
NUMBER=6-11749
BYLINE=ERIKA EVANS
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-2702
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Boris Yelstin was Russia's first freely
elected national leader. Now Vladimir Putin becomes
the second. Mr. Putin, who has served as acting
president since Mr. Yelstin's resignation last year,
was the victor in Sunday's presidential balloting and
will be inaugurated in May. U-S newspaper editorials
are filled with comment on the new leader and the
future of Russia.
We get a sampling now from ________________ in today's
U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, few
would have predicted it would be succeeded by a
Russian government adopting key features of Western-
style democracy.
Vladimir Putin, the 47-year-old former K-G-B
intelligence agent, rode a high voter turnout to an
absolute majority in this week's Russian election. In
doing so, he avoided a runoff that would have been
necessary had he gotten less than 50 percent of the
vote. In general, U-S newspaper editorials considered
the Russian election something to cheer about.
We begin with the Press Herald of Portland, Maine,
which believes the balloting showed shows Russia's
constitution worked.
VOICE: It was the vote itself, and not so much
the win by Vladimir Putin, that was the real
accomplishment. For the first time in history,
a democratically elected president of Russia has
been succeeded by another democratically elected
president. That's no small achievement in a
nation still roiled by internal disputes, a
badly functioning proto-capitalist economy and
crime rates so high they make Al Capone (EDS:
American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s) look
like a law-and-order fanatic. ... Still, the
constitution that [Mr.] Yelstin created and put
into effect has had its first real victory. Now
the world waits to see if it will have more.
TEXT: Many U-S editorial writers, however, find
Russia's new leader puzzling and opinion is divided on
just how effective Mr. Putin will be in leading the
Russian people. The Miami Herald in Florida warns
that if this vote is to mean anything, the new leader
in Moscow had better devise a precise plan for
Russia's future.
VOICE: The bedeviling question is: Now that he
has won the presidency in free and fair
elections, can Mr. Putin deliver what the people
clearly want? ... Thus far, Mr. Putin has
issued only vague pledges about being committed
to the program of economic and democratic
reforms of his predecessor and mentor, President
Boris Yelstin. ... Russians have invested their
hopes for a better future in him. If he isn't
to let those voters down -- and in so doing,
deal a blow to democracy -- the new president
had better deliver.
TEXT: Also in Florida, the Orlando Sentinel argues
that Mr. Putin should be given a fair chance to put
his programs into action.
VOICE: At the moment, Mr. Putin hasn't had much
of a chance to do anything -- good or bad. He
deserves the benefit of the doubt. Fortunately,
he doesn't carry the taint of corruption that
accompanies many Russian politicians. That,
along with his religious convictions, gives him
some moral authority. ... That he now, as
president-elect, pledges to expand reforms
suggests consistency and pragmatism -- as well
as the potential to build U-S - Russia ties.
TEXT: The Tulsa World in Oklahoma says the new
Russian leader has the potential to lead his country
into a brighter future.
VOICE: Now the questions begin on just what
kind of leader Vladimir Putin will be. He has
been a hard-line K-G-B agent and still clings to
the old values of order, discipline and a strong
central government. He has been instrumental in
the military crackdown in Chechnya. In fact,
his Chechnya policy was instrumental in his
election. But he also has democratic leanings.
He has supported the "fundamental rights of
human liberties." He doesn't seem tied to the
old communist ideology. So, [Mr.] Putin begins
his tenure with a clean slate -- or at least as
clean as any Russian politician's slate can be.
... [Mr.] Putin could take Russia where neither
Mikhail Gorbachev nor Boris Yelstin could -- to
a stable, successful democracy. His first step
was the election. Now, the really hard work
begins.
TEXT: And finally, the Oregonian in the Pacific
Northwest says many challenges lie ahead for Russia's
new leader, but that his election in free and fair
balloting should help improve Moscow's relations with
other nations.
VOICE: Yes, big as these intertwined challenges
are, the United States and Russia are joined
together in a deeper and, we think, more hopeful
way as a result of Sunday's Russian elections.
Those elections were free and fair by all
objective accounts, and this triumph of
democracy gives a healthy perspective to the
challenges Vladimir Putin faces. Really now, a
corrupt and compromised political establishment,
a weak economy, a draining war -- it's not as if
incoming American presidents haven't faced
similar challenges.
TEXT: With that comment from the Oregonian, we
conclude this sampling of comment on Russia's
presidential election.
NEB/ENE/JP
28-Mar-2000 16:29 PM EDT (28-Mar-2000 2129 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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