ONLY GORBACHEV AND GAIDAR ARE LESS POPULAR THAN YELTSIN.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 36

The latest poll conducted by the respected All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) finds Yeltsin ranking close to the bottom among potential presidential candidates. Yeltsin was endorsed by only nine out of every hundred adults polled. Only former premier Yegor Gaidar (seven out of ten) and ex-president Mikhail Gorbachev (three out of ten) scored lower. Leading the poll were Gennady Zyuganov and Grigory Yavlinsky, both endorsed by 18 percent of the Russian populace. Next were Aleksandr Lebed and Svyatoslav Fedorov, both with 16 percent. Vladimir Zhirinovsky scored 11 and Viktor Chernomyrdin 10. As a broad generalization, Zyuganov receives support from RussiaÕs 38 million pensioners; Yavlinsky from young professionals; Fedorov from women voters; Lebed and Zhirinovsky from the military; Yeltsin, Chernomyrdin, and Gaidar from entrepreneurs and professionals. GorbachevÕs supporters, the newspaper Segodnya reports, Òare so few that it is impossible to generalize about them.Ó (10)

Criminal Proceedings Instituted Against Regional Governor in "Grain Affair.