Word: yeltsin
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Chubais has dismissed the recording as a fabrication of his enemies. It was indeed reportedly leaked to the media by an ally of his chief nemesis, General Alexander Korzhakov, Yeltsin's former security chief. But Western diplomats who have studied the transcript say it rings true...
Public disgust over privatization nearly destroyed Chubais. After disastrous reverses in the December 1995 parliamentary elections, Yeltsin fired his deeply unpopular Minister, but Chubais got back into the thick of things much faster than expected. Presidential elections were scheduled for the summer of 1996, and Yeltsin's popularity was at rock bottom. Korzhakov and other intimates urged him to postpone the elections and declare a state of emergency. Yeltsin was tempted, but in mid-March consulted several political figures, including Chubais. His passionate arguments against that course swayed Yeltsin and led the President to put Chubais in charge...
...Chubais pulled together a new team of savvy technocrats, businessmen and pollsters. More important, he established a strong working relationship with Tatyana Dyachenko, Yeltsin's forceful daughter, and tapped what an associate says were "unlimited" supplies of private-sector financing. Yeltsin's victory was a brilliant turnaround, even though the methods behind it--particularly the amount of money spent on the campaign--were questionable...
After being named presidential chief of staff within days after the final round of voting, Chubais brought together an eclectic group of people, such as Maxim Boyko, a Harvard-trained economist, and Yevgeni Savostyanov, an activist and disciple of Andrei Sakharov, who in the Yeltsin era became a KGB general. In trying to create his "dictatorship within the government," Chubais has wielded power with brutal enthusiasm. The recently created All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to collect back taxes, for example, has his fingerprints all over it. The idea is to scare money out of the companies that owe the government...
...much power could be Chubais' undoing: Yeltsin does not like aides who can build an independent base. Some political observers argue that Chubais' unpopularity makes him more attractive to Yeltsin. Others suspect that in spite of the public's distaste, the chief of staff has concealed designs on the presidency. Yeltsin's re-election may have led Chubais to believe that with the right campaign team and lots of money, anyone could win. What Chubais needs, however, is something few Yeltsin associates so far have had: time. A few more years near the center of power, and the people might...