Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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When Defense Minister Pavel Grachev appeared before the Russian parliament two weeks ago, everyone expected that his visit would be the political equivalent of a burning at the stake. His numerous critics were eager to toss a branch onto the fire that seemed about to consume the career of the 46-year- old paratroop veteran of the Afghan War who was promoted to Defense Minister three years ago. As the general who oversaw the final withdrawal of his country's army from eastern Germany last August -- an exercise most Russian soldiers still find humiliating -- Grachev has become the embodiment...
...list of battlefield defeats: pinched budgets, poor equipment, low recruitment rates, unpaid salaries and a decline in military preparedness so precipitous that not a single ground-force training maneuver has been carried out at the divisional level since 1992. Implicit in his words was the accusation that it is parliament, which controls the purse strings, and not the Defense Minister, who merely distributes the resources he is given, that bears the blame. "Not a single army in the world is in such a catastrophic state," Grachev told the Deputies. "I ask you to take this as a warning...
...world's third largest nuclear power, Ukraine, agreed to accede to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, clearing a roadblock that had held up two , other international disarmament accords. The Ukrainian parliament voted 301 to 8 to pass the resolution, which follows a commitment made in January to eliminate the country's 1,800 warheads. Until Ukraine agreed to go nuclear free, Russia had said it would not put into effect an agreement to cut its long-range nuclear weapons and also would not take up ratification of another arms-control accord...
Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany for 12 years, was elected to a fourth term -- but just barely. Kohl received 338 parliamentary votes, just one more vote than the absolute majority he required. Two legislators from Kohl's Christian Democratic Party were roused from sickbeds, and another rushed into the Parliament chambers just two minutes before the voting closed, apparently having overslept...
Zhirinovsky: This was the beginning of a scenario. As a result of the financial debacle, Prime Minister Vladimir Chernomyrdin was to resign and Vladimir Shumeiko (Chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament), who has better relations with certain circles in the West, was to come to power. The next step was to launch an attack against the Army and provoke unrest. The final stage was supposed to be the establishment of a liberal dictatorship next spring...