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Subject: Yeltsin Ally Resigns In Bid to Placate Foes;Media Chief Played Lighting Rod
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:44:02 EST
Message-ID: <30.1992Nov26.104402@AmeriCast.com>
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Yeltsin Ally Resigns In Bid to Placate Foes;Media Chief Played
Lighting Rod Role<By Michael Dobbs<Washington Post Foreign Ser-
vice<

MOSCOW, Nov. 25 - President Boris Yeltsin accepted the resigna-
tion of one of his closest political associates today in an ap-
parent attempt to strike a deal with conservatives who have
threatened to bring down Russia's reformist government.  The
departure of deputy prime minister Mikhail Poltoranin came amid
intense political maneuvering before the opening next Tuesday of
the winter session of the country's supreme legislature, the
Congress of People's Deputies. It seems likely that more such
resignations will follow in the next few days as Yeltsin seeks to
neutralize an expected offensive by opposition legislators.

In a letter to Yeltsin, Poltoranin called his resignation a
"well-considered and balanced move undertaken at a crucial moment
for the future of Russia, to protect the president from mounting
attacks from an opposition bent on revenge."

Widely regarded as one of the most radical members of the govern-
ment of acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, Poltoranin is one of
several ministers whose resignation has been demanded by centrist
groups in the Congress as their price for continuing to support
Yeltsin. He also holds the post of information minister, making
him responsible for supervising the country's unruly mass media.

A former journalist, Poltoranin has served as an adviser and con-
fidant to Yeltsin ever since the former Communist Party boss from
the Urals was transferred to Moscow during the early days of
former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (recon-
struction) policy.  After Yeltsin was thrown out of the Soviet
leadership in 1987 and became the object of bitter attacks from
the Communist establishment, Poltoranin was one of the few aides
to stick by him.

Over the past few weeks, Poltoranin has taken the lead in issuing
public warnings of an alleged attempt by Yeltsin's political op-
ponents to stage what would amount to a "constitutional coup" at
next week's Congress. He has also been an outspoken critic of the
conservative speaker of parliament, Ruslan Khasbulatov, whose
cooperation the president needs if he is to survive the Congress
with his government and economic policies essentially intact.

A spokeswoman for Poltoranin said the minister had deliberately
"drawn fire onto himself and sacrificed himself with the aim of
ending tension."

By accepting Poltoranin's resignation, Yeltsin is evidently hop-
ing to protect key members of his economic team, including
Gaidar. The move follows the dismissal yesterday of the liberal
Yegor Yakovlev as head of Ostankino television, which serves the
post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

Both Yakovlev and Poltoranin had been viewed by journalists as
defenders of press freedom from encroachment by the
conservative-dominated parliament, and it remains to be seen what
effect their "Boris, you are wrong"<

- headline in Nezavisimaya Gazeta<

departure will have. Yakovlev's firing was welcomed by former
Communists and nationalists, but the directors of Ostankino
television issued a statement today describing it as a "dangerous
precedent for press freedom in Russia."

The presidential decree dismissing Yakovlev criticized him for
allegedly unbalanced coverage of an ethnic conflict in the north-
ern Caucasus that has claimed the lives of several hundred peo-
ple. A film screened on Ostankino television Monday included a
lengthy report of alleged massacres of Ingush refugees in north-
ern Ossetia, one of a string of autonomous republics on the
southern borders of Russia.

Some commentators suspect Yeltsin agreed to sack Yakovlev in re-
turn for political support from leaders of the autonomous repub-
lics in his struggle with parliament. "Boris, you are wrong,"
said the independent Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper in a front-
page headline today.

Yakovlev, who is best known for turning the stodgy weekly Moscow
News into a flagship of glasnost (openness) under Gorbachev, has
been generally philosophical about his dismissal, saying he hopes
it will help Yeltsin survive the latest political crisis. At the
same time, however, he has warned about a threat to freedom of
speech.

The significance of the shakeup in the media will only become
clear when it is known who will replace Poltoranin and Yakovlev.
A major battle is expected next week over whether the Congress
has the right to approve and reject ministers nominated by the
president.

The political maneuvering is reminiscent of a government reshuf-
fle that preceded the last Congress in April. Yeltsin accepted
the resignations of several close allies to remove them from the
political firing line, but did not burn his bridges with
them.<02:24 11-26C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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