DATE=9/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA POL/PRIMAKOV (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253517
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  One of Russia's most popular political 
figures, former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, says 
he is seriously considering a run for the presidency 
next year.  Correspondent Peter Heinlein in Moscow 
reports Mr. Primakov is preparing to re-enter public 
life after an absence of several months.
TEXT:  In a televised interview, the 69-year-old 
former spymaster, foreign minister, and prime minister 
avoided the question on the minds of Russian political 
observers. 
Mr. Primakov last month agreed to run for parliament 
at the head of an alliance involving powerful Moscow 
mayor Yuri Luzhkov and a group of influential regional 
leaders. 
Mayor Luzhkov is known to have presidential ambitions 
of his own, but has said he would step aside if his 
older and more experienced colleague decides to run.  
Mr. Primakov says he has simply not decided.
            /// PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN - ESTABLISH 
AND UNDER ///
He says -- you see, there are a lot of variables to be 
taken into account.  He then paused and said -- well, 
I never make hasty decisions.
            // OPT //
As for the parliamentary elections, Mr. Primakov said 
his potential allies must be to the center of Russia's 
political spectrum -- no Communists and no one who 
advocates a rapid privatization of state resources.
            /// 2ND PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN - IN FULL 
AND UNDER ///
He says -- we cannot have as companions those who want 
to turn the clock back to the totalitarian regime, or 
the command economic system.  But, he adds -- there 
are those pseudo liberals, the so-called Chicago boys, 
who deny the regulatory role of the state.  We can not 
have them as our companions either."
On another subject, Mr. Primakov says he is recovering 
well after recent hip-replacement surgery.  During his 
final days in government, he could barely walk.
He said he was pleased to receive a get-well greeting 
from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, but chided 
his former counterpart and colleague, with all the 
intelligence at her disposal, for getting bad 
information about his illness.
            /// 3RD PRIMAKOV ACT IN RUSSIAN; IN FULL 
AND UNDER ///
He says -- I was moved by her warm letter, but she 
should tell the C-I-A they gave her the wrong 
information.  The surgery was not on my back, but on 
my leg.
            // END OPT //
Mr. Primakov indicated he would take his time making 
his plans for the future, since presidential elections 
are still nine-months away.  But that could all be 
thrown into a different gear if the political buzz on 
the streets of Moscow is to be believed.
Published reports the past few days suggest President 
Boris Yeltsin is considering a surprise early 
resignation.  That would advance the presidential 
election to December -- the same time as the 
parliamentary vote and the race for Moscow mayor.
Observers say a resignation has several possible 
advantages for Mr. Yeltsin and the Kremlin team as 
they try to hold on to power.
For one, it throws the opposition into disarray.  
Moreover, it places new strains on Mr. Yeltsin's 
rival, Mayor Luzhkov, who had hoped to use the next 
nine-months to build a nationwide political machine.  
It also puts severe strains and on the mayor's budding 
relationship with his newfound ally, Mr. Primakov, and 
could force Mr. Primakov to do something he says he 
never does -- make a hasty decision.   (SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/PCF/RAE 



06-Sep-1999 12:52 PM LOC (06-Sep-1999 1652 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.