Word: politburo
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That was a threat he had used before, but the party leaders took him seriously. They called a quick recess, then returned to announce that the Politburo was proposing that Gorbachev's resignation not be considered. The motion passed overwhelmingly, 322-13, with 14 abstentions. It seems obvious now that no matter how much steam the hard-liners let off, the party has no ready alternative to Gorbachev...
Yeltsin's popularity stems partly from the impression he conveys that he understands the daily frustrations of Russian life. Nothing has endeared him more to ordinary people than his denunciation of the privileges of the political elite. In his autobiography, Against the Grain, Yeltsin describes the opulence of the Politburo villa that he was offered (and turned down) in 1987, wickedly reminding readers along the way that the house had once been assigned to Mikhail Gorbachev. As party first secretary in Sverdlovsk during the 1970s, Yeltsin enjoyed the same perks that Gorbachev received in Stavropol province in the south...
...this man who dares to challenge the Soviet President? Their rivalry has fascinated Soviets and foreigners alike ever since Yeltsin criticized Gorbachev at a Politburo meeting in 1987 and was forced to resign as party secretary for Moscow. Once regarded as a bombastic buffoon, Yeltsin has come to be seen as a serious contender for supreme power, the man most likely to win a free election for President...
...while after Gorbachev became the party's General Secretary in March 1985. Yeltsin soon arrived in Moscow as Central Committee Secretary for Construction, and Gorbachev later selected him for the tough task of cleaning up the corrupt Moscow party apparatus. With that job came candidate membership in the Politburo and such perquisites as a marble-lined dacha, a small army of servants and access to special Kremlin consumer stores. Far from being seduced by such luxury, Yeltsin was repelled, and that led to his wildly popular denunciations of high living by Soviet leaders...
Yeltsin toiled diligently to bring the capital's food supply and distribution system under control. He traveled the city by subway -- unheard of for a Politburo member -- and commuted from distant suburbs to check on transportation conditions for workers. He would even barge into meat stores to find out who was getting the best cuts. These shock tactics delighted ordinary Muscovites but infuriated the party "Mafia," an old-boy network of distribution officials and real-life gangsters...