World

Dust Settles In Russia Shakeup

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 9, 1999 / 5:02 AM EDT / CBS

A day after he fired RussiaÂ's government for the fourth time in 18 months, President Boris Yeltsin met with his new prime minister at the Kremlin Tuesday, while a confused nation watched the State Duma, parliament's lower house, that must confirm the unexpected appointment.

Yeltsin named the taciturn Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent and domestic security chief, as prime minister after he sacked Sergei Stepashin along with the rest of the Cabinet on Monday.

Yeltsin opened his meeting with Putin in the Kremlin Tuesday by asking about his mood. Â"Combative,Â" Putin responded in his usual terse style. The talks were expected to focus on the country's immense problems and efforts to quickly assemble a new Cabinet.

Yeltsin not only designated Putin to the prime minister's job, but in a televised address on Monday, he called Putin is the best man to lead Russia into the 21st Century, reports CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins.

The Russian president also called his new appointee the best guarantee that RussiaÂ's political and economic reforms will continue.

"I'm convinced he will serve the nation well while working in this high post, and Russians will be able to appraise Putin's human and business qualities. I trust him," Yeltsin said.

"I also want everyone who goes to the (presidential) polls in July 2000 to make their choice to trust him too," he added.

Yeltsin is barred by RussiaÂ's constitution from seeking a third term at the country's helm.

The government shakeup, the fourth in less than two years, raised new questions about Yeltsin's stability and plunged the country into a familiar cycle of political turmoil.

Incoming Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Across the political spectrum, party leaders criticized Yeltsin and questioned his fitness to govern.

Â"This is an agony, a total insanity,Â" declared Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, said Russia has Â"grown tired of watching an ill leader who is not capable of doing his job.Â"

Despite the harsh words, lawmakers predicted Putin was likely to be confirmed when parliament's lower house, the State Duma, meets next Monday to consider his nomination.

If parliament rejects Putin three times, Yeltsin would be obliged to dissolve the Duma, something lawmakers are unlikely to want ahead of legislative elections.

The president's spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin said the lawmakers' initial reaction to Putin's nomination showed that they Â"do not want to head to a confrontation.Â"

Â"I can assure you that Boris Yeltsin does not want such a confrontation as well and will do everything possible to avoid it,Â" Yakushkin said

Meanwhile, Yeltsin on Monday formally set Dec. 19 as the date for parliamentary elections.

On the streets of Moscow, people reacted to the news with bewilderment and confusion. Western governments greeted the shakeup with polite restraint and U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration said it was ready to work with Putin.

Putin, meanwhile, went on television Monday to promise Â"no revolutionary changesÂ" in Stepashin's economic course and no major changes in the Cabinet, although technically all its members were fired and would have to be reappointed.

Putin also met with Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov, a Communist who will preside over the confirmation debate next week.

Putin is little known to the general public, has no political support base, and lacks the stature of leaders such as Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

Yeltsin has been ill for much of his second term, and his erratic behavior has raised questions about his fitness to govern, although he has appeared somewhat more robust in recent months.