SELEZNEV CALLS ON PARLIAMENT TO BACK KIRIENKO.

Support from an unexpected corner came yesterday for President Boris Yeltsin’s campaign to appoint Sergei Kirienko as prime minister. State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev, a leading member of the Communist party and former editor of its newspaper Pravda, met with the president yesterday. Immediately afterwards, he announced his support of Kirienko’s nomination when it is discussed by the Duma on April 17. Seleznev indicated that he was supporting Kirienko to ward off dissolution of the Duma. "It is a thousand times more important that the Duma be preserved and allowed to work to the end of its constitutional term," Seleznev declared. (NTV, April 14) Seleznev said Yeltsin told him that Russia needs to make the transition to a new generation of younger leaders, and that the president would set an example by not running for a third term in office himself. Kirienko needs 226 votes to win appointment.

In another boost for Kirienko’s candidacy, a number of powerful regional governors also expressed their support. These included Kemerovo Oblast’s Aman Tuleev and Ingushetian President Ruslan Aushev. Kirienko made a good impression when he addressed Russia’s regional leaders in the Federation Council on April 1. (See the Monitor, April 3)

Yeltsin Aide Supports Idea of Re-Delegating President’s Powers.