SECOND STAGE OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION BEGINS.

The Central Election Commission (TsIK) completed the first phase of the election campaign March 2 by registering 94 initiative groups in support of 79 presidential hopefuls. On March 4, the TsIK launched the next phase by announcing that it had verified the 1.7 million signatures submitted in support of Gennady Zyuganov and by duly declaring the Communist party leader to be the first officially registered candidate. (3) Fifteen groups in support of Boris Yeltsin are said already to have collected 8 million signatures.

Left-Wing Parties Unite.