UNION OF RIGHT FORCES: UPDATE

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UNION OF RIGHT FORCES: UPDATE

Izvestia, August 26, 1999, p. 2

Almost all roles were already distributed in the Union of Right Forces. Three co-chairmen of the coordinating council – Sergei Kirienko (New Force), Konstantin Titov (Voice of Russia), and Anatoly Chubais (Right Cause) – are discussing the last details of their activities during the election campaign. Chubais will head the headquarters, Titov is chairman of the political council responsible for the ideological strategy, and Kirienko is the image of the movement.

Next Sunday, the movements comprising the Union of Right Forces will convene a unification conference.

RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN PREMIERS MEET IN MOSCOW

Parlamentskaya Gazeta, August 26, 1999, p. 1

Russian and Ukrainian premiers Vladimir Putin and Valery Pustovoitov will mostly discuss economic matters in the negotiations which will begin today in Moscow, according to Igor Savolsky, Senior Deputy Minister for CIS Affairs.

Savolsky: Cooperation in the sphere of the fuel and energy complexes will be one of the most important issues on the agenda.

SKURATOV TOURED HIS NATIVE BURYATIA

Tribuna, August 26, 1999, p. 1

The official excuse was the intention to attend the seminar Media and Politics organized by Gerd Bossen, leader of the Foundation named after Adenauer.

Yuri Skuratov was in the center of attention precisely because of his claimed intention to run for deputy. Buryatia has only one single-mandate district, and Skuratov’s decision will affect the whole arrangement of political forces in the republic.

Skuratov himself says that it is still too early to make any decisions: formally, he is still general prosecutor. His enemies may interpret his campaign as admission of guilt and intention to evade responsibility.

In fact, Skuratov is very popular in Buryatia. According to unofficial reports one of the reasons behind Skuratov’s trip to Buryatia as his eagerness to secure support of President Leonid Potapov.

ZYUGANOV VISITED YEKATERINBURG

Moskovsky Komsomolets, August 26, 1999, p. 2

Governor Tuleev is said to have warned Gennadi Zyuganov that if he were not included in the first three positions of the Communist federal list, he will run independently of he Communist Party.

Zyuganov was evasive and aid that “We have to present a whole team to voters. Talking about top threes is wrong.”

SHANGHAI FIVE SUMMIT TAKES PLACE

ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, August 25, 1999, 15:00

Boris Yeltsin and Cian Cemin had a tete-a-tete meeting before 7 a.m. and after that the Russian president talked to his other partners.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov: The discussion touched upon the fact that active fighting for the future world order is taking place now. Russia, China and many other countries want it to be a multi-polar world where interests of all countries, be they large, medium, or small are taken into account. A world taking into account interests of all countries. Only in this case we can be sure of a truly global security.

Along with that, there are attempts to enforce a different world order, a single-polar or bipolar one. Russia has always objected to that and will go on doing so. In other words, this is a serious struggle on the international arena over what kind of a world it will be in the 21st century…

The five countries located along the former Soviet-Chinese border signed a document, which was immediately termed as the Bishkek Declaration. The document states that its signatories support the idea of a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia and will jointly use the Baikonur complex so as to stop its being such a problem.

The plane with the Russian president is expected back in Moscow, today.

RESPONSES TO THE NEWS OF STEPASHIN’S ALLIANCE WITH YABLOKO

NTV (Independent Television), “Segodnya” program, August 25, 1999, 12:00

Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Yakushkin who accompanied Boris Yeltsin on the trip to Bishkek commented on the news on the insertion of Sergei Stepashin on the Yabloko election list. According to Yakushkin, the president did not respond to the news in any particular manner and merely said that he had always liked Yabloko.

Stepashin gave an interview with “Echo of Moscow” radio saying that he did not become a Yabloko member but merely established cooperation with this party for the upcoming parliamentary election. Stepashin is quoted as citing his recent agreement with Grigory Yavlinsky reached in St. Petersburg. The ex-premier also said that he did not rule out the possibility of cooperation with Yabloko at the presidential election in 2000.

SELEZNEV DOES NOT SEE STEPASHIN AS A RIVAL

ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, August 25, 1999, 09:00

When it became known for a fact that Sergei Stepashin would challenge him at the upcoming parliamentary election, Duma Chairman Gennadi Seleznev said that he did not view Stepashin as a rival. Stepashin and Seleznev will run for deputy from the same constituency in St. Petersburg.

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