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G. Yavlinski about Yeltsin on January 9, 1997.
The following text is an excerpt from
OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 7, 10 January 1997.
Copyright © 1997 OMRI. All Rights Reserved.
YAVLINSKII: SICK OR WELL, YELTSIN UNABLE TO RUN RUSSIA.
Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii told "Ekho Mosvky" on 9 January
that President Yeltsin is incapable of ruling Russia -- not because of his
illness, but because of "the way he sees the political situation, grasps it, selects
people, makes decisions, assigns tasks, and his general abilities to resolve the
problems our country is facing." He claimed that since nobody in the
president's circle understands what policies are needed, it is irrelevant whether
Yeltsin is in the Kremlin or the Central Clinical Hospital. However, Yavlinskii
did not call for the president to resign, noting that citizens had elected Yeltsin
and their choice must be respected. Commenting on repeated calls for Yeltsin's
resignation by former Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed, Yavlinskii
pointed out that Lebed helped Yeltsin get re-elected by joining his team after the
first round of the presidential race. -- Laura Belin
Russian newspapers about Yeltsin.
IZVESTIYA: RUSSIA FENDS FOR ITSELF WHILE YELTSIN IS ILL.
While officials play down Yeltsin's illness, some journalists are
expressing skepticism about the president's health. In an editorial
on 10 January, "Izvestiya" said it is clear that Yeltsin is seriously
ill, and expressed concern for the country's stability. Like many
other papers, Izvestiya avoided covering Yeltsin's health problems
during his re-election campaign. Vitalii Tretyakov, editor of
Nezavisimaya gazeta, wrote in the paper's 10 January edition that
"The country is much sicker than the president." Meanwhile,
the weekly Obshchaya gazeta for 9-15 January wrote that
a Kremlin censor vetted all television footage of Yeltsin's meeting
with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to delete everything that
betrayed the true state of Yeltsin's health. -- Nikolai Iakoubovski
This material was reprinted with permission of the
Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization
with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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