Yeltsin won't stop Chechnya election

Voting could hurt peace deal

June 13, 1996
Web posted at: 11:20 a.m. EDT (1520 GMT)

St. PETERSBURG, Russia (CNN) -- Chechens must decide for themselves whether to hold local elections Sunday, even though a new peace agreement with separatist rebels may be jeopardized, Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Thursday.

Campaigning in St. Petersburg for the nationwide presidential election -- also on Sunday -- Yeltsin said he would not order Chechnya's Moscow-backed government to back down from its plan to go forward with local elections.

The pact signed earlier this week calls for a Russian pullout from Chechnya and rebel disarmament by August 30. The rebels, who say a free election is impossible with Russian troops in Chechnya, signed only after they were assured local elections would be postponed. The rebels do not object to Chechens voting in the presidential election.

"The Chechen Parliament decides independently whether to hold elections or not," Yeltsin said.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed government in Chechnya repeated Thursday that the election for a new Chechen parliament would go ahead, insisting it was not bound by any agreements between the separatists and Moscow.

Rebels will ignore accords

If the local elections are held, the rebels will "reject their obligations to the accords," said Ikhvan Gerikhanov, a member of the Chechen rebel government. He was quoted by the Interfax News Service.

The threat to tear up the accords would be a major blow to Yeltsin, who has been trying frantically to settle the Chechen conflict as the presidential election approaches.

The war -- highly unpopular with Russian voters -- has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly civilians, since Yeltsin sent in troops in December 1994 to crush Chechnya's independence bid.

Chechnya's Moscow-backed government, headed by Doku Zavgayev, is angry at being left out of the negotiations and fears what might happen once Russian troops leave.

Pivotal Elections: Russia

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