NEWSPAPER CLAIMS TO HAVE GOTTEN HOLD OF PLAN TO KEEP YELTSIN IN POWER.

A leading Russian daily newspaper claimed today that it had gotten hold of a plan for keeping Yeltsin in power after 2000: unifying Russia with Belarus and turning the Russian Federation into something resembling a confederation. “Today in the Kremlin they might be thinking: The more large-scale the changes in the state system, the better. Better for postponing elections, both parliamentary and presidential, better for the creation of ‘objectives’ preconditions for Yeltsin remaining master of the Kremlin after 2000.” The newspaper gave no indication of how and where it came across this plan (Kommersant, June 4).

The paper asked three notables to comment on the confederation possibility–former Kremlin administration chief Sergei Filatov, former deputy Kremlin administration chief Aleksandr Livshits and an anonymous former presidential adviser. All three said that they think that the idea of Yeltsin remaining in power after 2000 is a bad idea. Livshits and the anonymous former Kremlin official both said that they never heard the idea of using a confederation to secure Yeltsin a third term discussed while they were in the Kremlin, and Livshits said it was unlikely to happen. Livshits added, however, that it was impossible to imagine Yeltsin going into retirement.

Most interestingly, Filatov, who played an important role in Yeltsin’s 1996 presidential race, said that the idea of a confederation was discussed then as one way of keeping Yeltsin in the presidency. He said it ended up being unnecessary because Yeltsin’s main opponent, Gennady Zyuganov, proved to be weak.

The report also cited former Kremlin administration chief Valentin Yumashev as recalling that the first word that Yeltsin uttered after his 1996 heart bypass operation was “Ukaz!” (“Decree!”). The head of state immediately signed a decree handing his powers as head of state, which had been transferred to then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin for the duration of the surgery, back to himself (Kommersant, June 4).

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stepashin met with Belarus leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka today in Minsk. Stepashin promised to apply maximum force to completing the work on a “full-scale” treaty uniting Belarus with Russia. “It is time to move from words to deeds,” Stepashin was quoted as saying. For his part, Lukashenka thanked Stepashin for focusing on relations with Belarus and said that the new Russian government would continue former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov’s approach toward bilateral relations (Russian agencies, June 4).

CHUBAIS AND SOLZHENITSYN WEIGH IN ON STEPASHIN CABINET.