UPPER HOUSE APPROVES REFERENDUM LAW.

The Federation Council, which held its first fall session October 3, has approved a referendum law. The law would allow the public to vote on questions of changing the government, the presidential administration, or the legislature. (3)

The referendum law may be of great political significance. Duma budget committee chairman Nikolai Gonchar has suggested that the first use of the law should be a referendum on the economic and political integration of Russia and Belarus. Other deputies want to hold a national referendum on the political status of Chechnya.

Commemoration of 1993 Coup Reflects Russian Change of Mind.