CHERNOMYRDIN BACKS INCUMBENT GOVERNOR IN SARATOV OBLAST.

"Russia is Our Home" (ROH), the pro-government movement which plans to establish itself as a political party in the fall, has drawn up a list of candidates for the gubernatorial elections that will take place in 50 Russian regions by year’s end. In most regions, ROH is supporting the incumbent governors, most of whom were appointed by President Yeltsin directly. ROH is having difficulty deciding only in the case of the hawkish governor of Stavropol krai, Nikolai Yegorov, recently sacked as Yeltsin’s chief-of-staff, who was one of the strongest supporters of Russia’s military intervention in Chechnya. (Interfax, August 20) In the case of the Saratov oblast, which on September 1 is to hold the first of the season’s gubernatorial elections, ROH is supporting the candidacy of incumbent Governor Dmitri Ayatskov. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, the leader of ROH, this week threw his personal weight behind Ayatskov. After Chernomyrdin held a meeting with Ayatskov on August 21, Saratov television broadcast a specially recorded appeal by the prime minister to local residents to vote for "the leader who can satisfy all demands." (Interfax, August 21)

Ukrainian Visit of Taiwanese Leader Outrages Beijing.