Word: yeltsin
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...predict whether Russia will go backward, it is first necessary to recognize where it has progressed. Since 1991, when Yeltsin became President, and 1992, when the process of change began, the achievements in reforming key areas of the economy have been startling...
That is one vision for the future of reform, reassuring those who have suffered under it but affirming that it will survive and prosper. Not everyone is so sanguine. Many Russians and Western experts are deeply concerned that regardless of what he says, Yeltsin may have lost his taste for transforming the economy and may even reverse some of the advances he has made. An even graver worry is that Communist Party chief Gennadi Zyuganov will win the election and roll the economy back to state-controlled socialism. "The people who said the reforms could never be reversed are coming...
Some key aspects of reforms, like unfettered prices and budget austerity, are in danger if Zyuganov wins in June. Yegor Gaidar, the original architect of Yeltsin's policies, believes a return to a Stalinist state is impossible now, but he fears that the economy's nascent stability might not survive a communist restoration. If Zyuganov reaches the Kremlin, he says, the result may be populism of the sort that Juan Peron tried in Argentina, marked by irresponsible government spending, high inflation, price controls and shortages...
Progress has been remarkable, but after the election, reform seems destined to lose momentum. It is not certain that Yeltsin can even make it into the second round of the election that will result if, as expected, no candidate wins a majority on the first ballot. It is also unclear whether he could beat Zyuganov one on one, saddled as he is with the weight of illness, the war in Chechnya and his identification with the pain and corruption of reform. Even if he were re-elected, who would push ahead with reform now that he has thrown its leading...
...Zyuganov launched his campaign for the presidency, Burns made this comment to Time: "I think that Zyuganov is fooling the Russian people. His economics are fake. They would send Russia down the tubes to ruin." Burns has made a number of similar statements about Zyuganov, and has praised Boris Yeltsin. Yet he also claims that the State Department is not taking sides in the Russian presidential campaign. Shortly after making the "down the tubes" comment, Burns said, "You are not going to see us get involved in this election. It would be stupid, and it would backfire...