Yeltsin era ending?

If Russians feel cheated since the reelection of Boris Yeltsin, they could be forgiven. He has virtually disappeared from the national stage over the last two months, leaving behind a litany of broken election promises to improve the quality of life of average Russians against a background of potential economic collapse and subsequent social unrest.

His aides and backers -- particularly the United States which was not only instrumental in engineering the Russian president's election victory, but has also sent a leading cardiologist to consult with his doctors, and releases regular bulletins on his health through the State Department -- continue to maintain that Yeltsin is firmly in control of the national administration and on top of the current power struggle within the Kremlin.

His ongoing absence in Moscow, however, and specifically within the Kremlin's halls of power, has given Russians the perception that the Yeltsin-era is coming to an end, and not with a bang, but a whimper.

The announcement by Kremlin cardiologists that the Russian presidency is to have heart surgery but that he may be absent from the political stage for another several months has done nothing to ease this perception.

As far as many Russians are concerned, Yeltsin is simply no longer physically or mentally strong enough to withstand the rigors of the presidency.

Like Leonid Brezhnev in his later years or Konstantin Chernenko, Yeltsin has been ruling in name only since his reelection.

Waiting on the sidelines is the Russian communist party, which still controls the Duma (Russian parliament). By the fall, the communists maintain, if there is an economic collapse the government's credibility will be at rock bottom, especially if Yeltsin has not fully returned to lead the country, which will allow them to force a new election and be 'swept to power on a wave of public outrage.'

And while the communists are planning to breach the Kremlin walls and the country heads toward economic collapse, Yeltsin's three top men -- Alexander Lebed, Victio Chernomyrdin and Anatoli Chubias -- have become entangled in a three-way power struggle as the competition to succeed the ailing Russian president intensifies.

Unless the Russian president can stage another remarkable recovery, this time from the sick bed, and retake firm control of the country's administration, we may be witnessing the close of the Yeltsin's era.

-- The Bangkok Post