Word: duma
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Besides these concrete problems, there is also the Russians' loss of psychological security. "If you were viewing Russia from Mars," says Yuli Guzman, a former liberal member of Russia's State Duma, "you would have to say life has got better in the last five years. But if people are living better in objective terms, their subjective sense is that things have got worse. Even those who have become rich and traveled the world have a hankering for the past, when you had the illusion that someone--whether Stalin, the party or your trade union leader--was always thinking...
Irina Khakamada, president of the Common Cause Party and a member of the Russian State Duma, said that regardless of Yeltsin's victory, Russian politicians must focus on fostering democratic institutions among the people...
...objective all the Russian communists and their allies seem to agree on: the humiliating breakup of the Soviet Union must be reversed. A nonbinding resolution to that effect passed in the Duma last month and generated a powerful backlash from the West and from former Soviet republics that are now independent, especially Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic states. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher called the resolution "intimidation" and a "dark vision." The communists were unrepentant, though Zyuganov did repeat his usual line that of course the reunification of the U.S.S.R. will be "gradual" and "no one will encroach...
Talk of postponement is already in the air. Last month the communist-dominated Duma voted to abrogate the 1991 agreement by which the former Soviet Union had been dissolved. Though the measure carried no legal weight, an infuriated Yeltsin denounced it as "scandalous" and charged that the deputies had "destroyed the foundation on which they were sitting." The import of this ominous but vague outburst was soon made clear by a group of regional leaders in the upper house of parliament who support Yeltsin. Responding to the Duma's action, they proposed that the election be postponed for at least...
...Yeltsin's powerful Security Service have prepared "an analytical report" for their boss that outlines the pretexts under which he might do so. First, he could cite the long-discussed confederation treaties with Kazakhstan and Belarus, whose arrangements would supersede the current Russian constitution. In this context, the Duma's effort to reconstitute the U.S.S.R. could be seen not as a threat but as an opportunity. In fact, this week Belarus and Russia are signing a treaty as a step toward integration. The report reminds Yeltsin that if reunification went far enough, he could claim that new elections were necessary...