CNN - Firings may not be campaign boost

Yeltsin firings may not be enough of a campaign boost

Not even Lebed can assure a runoff victory

June 25, 1996
Web posted at: 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT)

From Correspondent Bill Delaney

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Just eight days before facing Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov in a tough election runoff, Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired seven top generals Tuesday in an intense Kremlin power struggle.

He also dismissed two top Security Council officials.

The ousting of the generals was the latest blow in an ongoing Kremlin power struggle -- and a clear boost to fast-rising security chief Alexander Lebed. Lebed, a former general, accused the group last week of trying to pressure the president, and suggested they were plotting a coup.

The ousted officers were close to former Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, Lebed's former commander and long-time foe. Grachev was fired in Kremlin shakeups last week.

Yeltsin granted Lebed another title Tuesday, appointing him chairman of the government's commission for proposing high-ranking military appointments.

Voter turnout iffy

Political observers and the media are split over whether Yeltsin's sluggish second-round campaign can generate this same excitement among voters. Russians who have struggled to survive old and new regimes are more preoccupied with getting food on the table and electrical power in their homes.

"It depends on the turnout. It's not a sure thing by any means. I would have anticipated a continual sort of 'get out the vote campaign,'" Gregory Guroff of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies said.

Instead it is get-out-of-the-Kremlin time for several hard-liners. Among those ousted by Yeltsin were long-time confidant Alexander Korzhakov and Defense Minister Pavel Grachev.

The purges have moved, in large part, under the influence of Lebed, bringing more reform-minded, polished figures such as Anatoly Chubais back to Yeltsin's fold.

"Alexander Lebed is the second most powerful person in this country right now," Michael McFaul of the Carnegie Moscow Center said.

But again, so what?

Forecast isn't clear

It's doubtful that either hard-liners or reformists can sway voters. More important, it is unclear whether Lebed can convince his supporters to back Yeltsin.

Many of the 15 million voters who propelled Lebed into third place in the June 16 first-round elections were merely casting their votes against Yeltsin.

"What's not so clear is that people will, one, go to the polls, or two, won't vote against both," Guroff said.

Meanwhile, Zyuganov's call for a coalition government seems to most people about as exciting as, well, early-morning volleyball. The proposal has been mocked by both Russian newspapers and analysts.

Yet Zyuganov's solid core of supporters will vote, meaning that if voter turnout is low, Boris Yeltsin could join the Kremlin exodus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yeltsin firings may not be enough of a campaign boost

Not even Lebed can assure a runoff victory

Voter turnout iffy

Forecast isn't clear

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