Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993 TAG: 9303130206
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
PARLIAMENT REINS IN YELTSIN BUT REFERENDUM ON WHO WILL RULE GETS TENTATIVE OK
A weakened Boris Yeltsin fought back Friday against hostile lawmakers who slashed his powers and imperiled his reforms, and his aides warned of "revolution."The nervous Congress did agree to reconsider Yeltsin's revived proposal for a referendum on who should rule: the president or Parliament.
In a major setback to the president, however, lawmakers gave final approval to a resolution repealing the extra powers they granted Yeltsin last year.
Yeltsin, who has been able to rule by decree and without fear of legislative veto, stormed out of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where the Congress of People's Deputies met for a third day in emergency session.
He says he needs the powers to carry out market reforms opposed by Congress, which was elected in Communist-run balloting in 1990 and consists mainly of former Communist Party members.
Yeltsin's spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov, said the country was "on the verge of absolute power by the Soviets," the Communist councils of the former Soviet Union. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai claimed the restrictions mean "the end of the peaceful transition of power."
Such threats were designed to heighten tension in the Congress - and they appeared to work.
Chilled by warnings of a political collapse, the deputies agreed to reconsider the referendum and extended their emergency session to today, apparently wary of going home after challenging the president.
In the smoking rooms and lobbies of the chandeliered palace, deputies debated whether Yeltsin had the right or strength to declare some kind of presidential rule and dissolve the Congress.
Yeltsin's aides said that if denied a referendum, he would carry out a non-binding plebiscite anyway to settle the power struggle.
The opposition is angry about raging inflation and soaring crime rates in a country long accustomed to cheap food and quiet streets.
"I have done everything possible to reach an accord, proposed a number of versions for compromise, listened to opinions, though in many cases they took foul and sometimes insulting forms," Yeltsin said in a speech Friday morning as lawmakers listened uneasily. "There's only an extremely limited choice of ways left to maintain the stability of the situation," he said.
Yeltsin walked out of the hall when it became clear lawmakers would approve the resolution curbing his powers. The resolution, which had won initial approval Thursday, also canceled an agreement between Congress and Yeltsin to hold the referendum on April 11.