YELTSIN SAYS HE WILL LEAVE OFFICE AFTER JUNE 2000.

In an interview published today, President Boris Yeltsin insisted that he will democratically transfer power to a new administration and leave office after the June 2000 presidential election. In the interview, which appeared as the lead article in “Izvestia,” Yeltsin, asked if he plans to write his memoirs, said that he has been too busy but will probably have the chance to do so next year. The head of state called this year’s parliamentary elections and the 2000 presidential vote the “main tasks” the Kremlin faces. Yeltsin said he hoped that “honest and open election campaign battles” would produce a new “young, energetic” government” with “new state ideas.”

Yeltsin also reiterated his belief that the body of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin should be removed from the mausoleum and reburied, but said he did not know when this should happen and suggested that a commission would be set up to deal with the question. Asked whether he was considering a ban on the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), Yeltsin said that the party had already closed itself down and “failed politically.” In an allusion to rumors that the country was being run by the “Family”–a group of political insiders, including his daughter Tatyana–Yeltsin said that, for him, his family was his wife, children and grandchildren; that he consulted with his official advisers in the Kremlin administration; and that he did not permit himself to be pressured by anyone (Izvestia, July 6).

Yeltsin’s interview with “Izvestia” would appear to have been an attempt to dampen rumors that the president and his inner circle are planning somehow to extend their stay in power after June 2000. If this was the reason, it did not work: the newspaper Segodnya today again led with an item claiming that Russia will unite with Belarus in August, creating the pretext for a postponement of Russia’s parliamentary and presidential elections (Segodnya, July 6).

RUSSIA-NATO CONTINUE TO BUTT HEADS OVER KOSOVO FORCE.