…BUT ZYUGANOV REACTS CALMLY.

Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov, who has complained of biased media and polling data, dismissed the latest findings at a press conference April 23, saying the democrats "always appear to be faring better than they really are." The poll showed Grigory Yavlinsky in third place with 6.5 percent, Vladimir Zhirinovsky in fourth place with 4.8 percent, retired Lt. General Aleksandr Lebed next with 4.7 percent, Svyatoslav Fedorov with 3.2 percent, and Mikhail Gorbachev with just under one percent. (AP, Reuters, UPI, April 23) Zyuganov said negotiations are under way between Communist and patriotic parties to agree on the composition and program of a broad, coalition "government of popular trust," to be appointed in the event of a Communist victory in the presidential election. Zyuganov said there were no plans to include ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky in such a government, but that talks were under way with Sergei Glazyev, a respected economist and leading member of the Democratic Party of Russia, and that the program of the Agrarian Party would form the basis for the coalition’s agricultural policy.

"Third Force" to Agree on Single Candidate.