RUSSIA-POLITICS: Embattled Yeltsin Walks a Political Tightrope

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Rajiv Tiwari

MOSCOW, Nov 8 1994 (IPS) - Russian president Boris Yeltsin is walking a political tightrope as he attempts to forge a coalition cabinet which will satisfy the ambitions of competing interest groups.

But political analysts warn that by trying to be all things to all men, Yeltsin faces the danger of losing his authority as Russia’s key reformist leader without winning the support of his resolute opponents.

Uncertainty continues to prevail over the ultimate shape of the government led by prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin which has recently lost the support of both the radical democrats and the parliamentary opposition.

Several key appointments are still in the works and the subject of behind-the-scenes negotiations whose results are expected to be felt later in the week.

Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin met in the Kremlin Tuesday to discuss further moves linked to economic stabilisation amid signs that the government head has been pushed to the background in the latest round of political adjustment.

New appointments are expected to be made after the weekend promotion of privatisation minister Anatoli Chubais as first deputy prime minister and the earlier resignation of Alexander Shokhin, who looked after the finance and economic portfolios.

Chubais’ elevation is considered as a sign by Yeltsin to the West that he is still committed to the pursuit of market-style reforms. It also aims at resting unease over the recent appointment of the conservative agriculture Minister Alexander Nazarchuk and the likely selection of a leading communist lawmaker to replace the current justice minister Yuri Kalmykov.

However, some of Yeltsin’s strongest political supporters are pointing out that the Chernomyrdin government is no longer a team but only a collection of individuals pursuing their own agendas.

Commenting on this fact, analyst Vasily Kononenko of the ‘Izvestia’ newspaper noted on Saturday that “it is already clear that the president is trying to find a balance between the interests of diametrically opposite forces and has managed to do so till now. But it may be upset in the near future”.

Shokhin’s resignation came after Yeltsin appointed Krevlin insider Vladimir Panskov as Russia’s new finance minister.