Word: yeltsin
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...miles southwest of Moscow, many defense plants have closed or cut back. Unemployment and inflation are rising to the point where the monthly minimum wage will buy only 10 lbs. of meat. Old communists like Pyotr Shirshov, a former army general who now heads the city soviet, predictably accuse Yeltsin of practicing "a pure form of dictatorship." More ominous for the President, disaffection has spread to young people, who might be expected to back reform. "I'm not really interested in politics," says Sergei Mishin, 20, an industrial technician, "but I know that people just don't believe anyone anymore...
...reformers in Moscow, freed from parliamentary veto, will have to deliver on some of the promises. Yeltsin had already reappointed his reformer in chief, Yegor Gaidar, as Deputy Prime Minister, the post he lost last December under pressure from parliament. Gaidar says his top priority will be to rein in inflation, which was running at 21% a month in September and at a predicted rate...
...printing large quantities of money and passing out huge low-interest loans. Meanwhile, industrial production has been plunging as parliament has insisted on supporting state factories as a jobs program, arguing that spreading unemployment could lead to riots. With elections set for December and a presidential vote next June, Yeltsin will have to be careful not to throw too many of his potential supporters out of work as he does battle against inflation...
...Yeltsin's economic plans may also be hampered by his debt to the armed forces. The military has twice saved the President -- once by not firing on the White House in August 1991 and again by firing on it last week. Now the generals will be looking for a payoff for services rendered. While they will certainly try to influence overall security policy, their strongest concerns % are at home. The army has been humiliated by its loss of status, the poor housing provided for its officers returning from service in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, and a general decline...
With so many concerns calling for stern management, Yeltsin might be expected to stay at his desk. Instead he announced he would fly to Japan this week for a long-scheduled three-day visit. He may have felt he had to keep the date this time, because he twice had to cancel to deal with crises at home. Beyond that, Yeltsin knows that appearances matter. Even if everything in Russia is not completely under his control, his arrival in Tokyo will invite the world to think he has everything firmly in hand...