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| A NEW PRIME MINISTER | |
 May 19, 1999 
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In an affirmation of Boris Yeltsin's renewed political vigor, the Duma voted 301-55 to back former Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin as prime minister to replace Yevgeny Primakov, who was sacked last week by Yeltsin. --Posted 1:40pm EDT |
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The approval of Stepashin by the state Duma, makes him the fourth prime minister of Russia in just over a year. Stepashin spoke of his hopes for Russia's future and seemed almost surprised by the ease of his confirmation. "I expected a lot of difficult and angry questions today, but there were none," Stepashin said. "This probably means one thing: We're all united by pain for our motherland and our people and the wish to see our country finally become normal, civilized, rich, prosperous and decent." The turbulent state of leadership under President Yeltsin prompted some Duma politicians to equate the current government with the tsars who ruled before the communist revolution. "As we see, history miraculously repeats itself," centrist Vladimir Ryzhkov said during the Duma debate. "There is the autocratic rule of the tsar or the president, parliament is helpless and lacks responsibility, and the government is totally defenseless against the tsar or president and against public opinion as represented by parliament." The Clinton administration welcomed the appointment and promised to work closely with Stepashin on a variety of trade and policy issues. "We congratulate President Yeltsin on the confirmation of his nominee for prime minister. We congratulate Mr. Stepashin on being confirmed," Lockhart told reporters. "We look forward to continuing our close work with our Russian colleagues on the full agenda of issues, including Kosovo, nonproliferation and arms control." Stepashin headed the nation's police and internal security forces as interior minister. His appointment followed the dismissal of perhaps Russia's most popular politician, Yevgeny Primakov. During his speech to the Duma following his confrimation, Stepashin credited the Primakov government for not allowing the country to crumble, but also criticized it for not implementing changes to improve the economic situation. "The previous government of Primakov did not allow the country to plunge into the abyss, yet we have failed so far to drastically change the situation either in economics or in the social sphere," Stepashin said. |
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