ON THE ELECTORAL BLOC FRONT.

The new “Russia is Our Home” electoral bloccontinued to draw criticism from the media and from the leaders of otherparties. Nezavisimaya gazeta said May 13 that Prime Minister ViktorChernomyrdin was trying to construct a political movement “from the roofdown” and criticized the bloc’s first meeting for its resemblance to acommunist-era session. Sergei Mitrokhin, a leader of the Yabloko faction inthe Duma, said he has a document showing that President Yeltsin was behindthe formation of both Chernomyrdin’s group and the left-of-center bloc to beorganized by Ivan Rybkin, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported May 13. Mitrokhin,whose party has refused to join either, said that Yeltsin wanted a”predictable” parliament. Russian nationalist Zhirinovsky told Zavtra (no.19) that this bloc was “an indication of weakness” in the Russian governmentand suggested that the “old” cards are simply being “reshuffled.” Yablokoparty leader Grigory Yavlinsky and Russia’s Choice head Yegor Gaidar bothhave said that they will not join Chernomyrdin’s bloc. At the same time,Yavlinsky denied any election alliance with Yegor Gaidar because of Gaidar’sclose association with the present regime.

Ruble Up And Russian Worries Are Too.