Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 20:56:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Who would you vote for?


Rahul Mahajan wrote:

> I don't think so, Jerry. It's possible I was misled by biased reporting
> here, but I don't think it even occurred to the rebels in the parliament
> that lack of a constitutional convention was an issue. They, of course, had
> other complaits about Yeltsin's dictatorship.

I don't think so, Rahul. The parliament was elected under the old
constitution (the same one under which Yeltsin was elected). When the
parliament threatened to impeach Yeltsin, Yeltsin said that the
constitution was no longer valid and ordered the parliament to either
accept his policies, agree to a new constitution drafted by Yeltsin, and
run for re-election before their terms ended or he (Yeltsin) would
dissolve the parliament. The parliament refused. Yeltsin dissolved the
parliament. When the members of parliament refused to accept this result
and occupied the parliament building, Yeltsin issued an ultimatum and then
sent in the troops. It was later admitted on public TV by Yeltsin himself
that the decision to send in the troops and open fire had been his
decision. So, in addition to being a social crisis, it was also very much
a constitutional crisis. All pretense of bourgeois democracy, IMHO, ended
on the day the parliament building went up in flames.

Jerry



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