PRO-SOVIET BLOC REFUSED REGISTRATION.

The Central Election Commission rejected the registration of the electoral list of the "Rebirth" bloc, created by Valery Skurlatov, a veteran of the nationalist movement. Top positions in the Skurlatov bloc are occupied by Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko, the president of the self-proclaimed Transdniester republic Igor Smirnov, Abkhazian leader Vladislav Ardzinba, and former Crimean president Yuri Meshkov, all holders of Soviet passports. The commission gave as its grounds for refusal the fact that the list represented an entity, the USSR, which no longer exists. Skurlatov said that Rebirth had not really expected the Commission to approve its list but wanted to make a public statement of its belief in the USSR’s restoration. (8)

Russian Movement of Democratic Reforms Holds Last Congress.