YELTSIN CALLS FOR UNITY, RENAMES COMMUNIST HOLIDAY.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 210

Keen to show he is back in control, Yeltsin yesterday issued a written appeal to the nation, saying that Russia is still scarred by divisions and calling for unity. "We are one nation. We have one fate, one future. And we are all from the same past. This day should unite and not divide the people," Yeltsin said. He signed a decree declaring that November 7 will in the future be known as the Day of Accord and Reconciliation, and be celebrated as a day of remembrance for the victims of revolution and repression. Until now, it has been known as Revolution Day and has celebrated the anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917. Yeltsin also ordered the eventual removal of Communist-era symbols nationwide and their replacement by monuments to the victims of the Soviet state.

Meanwhile, out on the streets of Moscow yesterday, 20,000 protesters were waving red flags and singing Soviet-era songs to demonstrate their disgust with Yeltsin’s market reforms. Yeltsin’s call for unity is unlikely to reconcile these people and millions of other Russians to the fact that their wages and pensions are months overdue. In fact, the main purpose of Yeltsin’s decree seemed to be to show that Yeltsin is recovering rapidly and reasserting his authority after a four-month power vacuum during which top aides have squabbled openly. (Itar-Tass, Reuters, November 7)

Berezovsky Back in North Caucasus; Row Brewing Over Dual Citizenship.