FEAR OF RETRIBUTION SAID PROMPTING PLOTS TO POSTPONE ELECTIONS.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 45

Asked what would happen to his movement if Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov were elected in June, Filatov said, "All of us will find ourselves in Lefortovo [prison]." Speculation is raging in the Russian media that Yeltsin and his inner circle are so afraid that a victorious Communist president will prosecute them for their conduct in office that they will cancel the presidential election if it looks as if Yeltsin is going to lose. Two pretexts are suggested. Unrest may be provoked in the North Caucasus, extending the war from Chechnya to Ingushetia and Dagestan and leading to the imposition of a state of emergency and postponement of the election. (9) Alternatively, the "unification" of Belarus and Russia may be announced, in which case elections will be postponed until details of the new state entity have been worked out. (10) Communists in Magadan Oblast are said to have begun collecting signatures to demand the instituting of criminal charges against Yeltsin on charges of kindling war in Chechnya. (11) Meanwhile, former Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi says he has materials implicating other members of the current elite, particularly Vladimir Shumeiko, in corrupt practices. (12)

Second Round of Hearings On START II.