DUMA ADOPTS LAW ON TRANSFER OF POWER…

Communist deputy and chairman of the Duma Security Committee Viktor Ilyukhin warned a press conference yesterday that, if Zyuganov is elected president in June, Yeltsin may resort to force in an effort to prevent him taking up office. (Interfax, April 30) To prevent this, on April 25 the Duma adopted, in the first reading, a bill on the inauguration of a new president. The bill gives the president-elect the right to attend meetings of the cabinet, Security Council, and other federal bodies in the thirty-day period between the announcement of the election results and the inauguration. He must be kept fully informed of troop movements and of any plans to introduce martial law or a state of emergency. The cabinet must resign as soon as the new president takes office, and the president will have the right to appoint an acting prime minister until his nominee is approved by parliament. (Interfax, April 25)

…Yeltsin Team Mulls Referendum on Amending Constitution.