Word: duma
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...threat of civil conflict, and ominous signs of disintegration were showing up in the provinces. It looked as if President Boris Yeltsin would once again put forward his choice for Prime Minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin--and parliament for a third time would reject him. That would mean dissolution of the Duma and new elections, as banks continued to fail and the ruble plunged. But the communists in parliament warned that if Yeltsin ordered them to leave, they would not go. They started up the machinery to impeach the President. Key military and security units around Moscow were put on heightened alert...
...federal parliament, private banks. But they only looked authentic. The presidency resembled the throne of the Czar, upon which the entire welfare of the nation rested. But the erratic Yeltsin is physically and politically out of touch, having lost control of his Cabinet, the parliament and the people. The Duma, supposedly a representative legislature, is hardly that at all. Except for the Communists, Russia has no real political parties, so most of the Deputies vie for power rather than enacting the laws Russia needs. The banks have served all too often as the private preserves of robber barons...
...days since Chernomyrdin's re-appointment, Berezovsky has been just as busy. Chernomyrdin's aides say the banker has been negotiating on the PM's behalf with a number of Duma factions, including the communists, whose support is essential to the Prime Minister's confirmation but whose demands clash with the preferences of the tycoons. This time, supporters of Berezovsky say he would like a high post in the government for himself...
...warhorse may yet generate enough adrenaline for another comeback. But even if Yeltsin can hang on, he is a profoundly diminished political figure. His aides last week started negotiating with the Duma over a "political agreement" that would alter the Constitution by taking away the President's power to issue decrees on the economy, limiting his ability to dismiss and appoint governments and transferring many of those prerogatives to the parliament and the Cabinet. In other words, these were the terms for Yeltsin's surrender. In return, the parliament would halt impeachment proceedings and pass a law giving the President...
Chernomyrdin hardly seems to offer the dynamism and political strength Russia so sorely needs. Although the Clinton Administration retains a close relationship with him through Vice President Al Gore, many U.S. officials consider him a model of mediocrity. Chernomyrdin is caught between the conflicting demands of the Duma, the oligarchs, the West and his lame-duck boss, and it is hard to see how he can transcend their demands and do what's right for Russia...