ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603040022
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MOSCOW
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times|
It was one of the few times at a standing-room-only news conference that the former leader gave a clear, unequivocal answer. But a succession of coy, rambling and sometimes incomplete replies made it plain that Gorbachev is running for president - as the champion of a unified democratic movement, or alone.
``If I go to the elections, it won't be as a `wedding general,''' Gorbachev said, evoking a classic Russian tale of an army officer paid to attend a marriage in full uniform to serve as window dressing.
The former leader's ``address to all democratic forces'' calling on them to agree on a plan of action for the June 16 election was the latest bid by a presidential contender to capture the elusive middle ground in Russia's turbulent politics.
The two front-runners, incumbent President Boris Yeltsin and Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov, offer an alternative between a ``worsened today'' and an ``improved yesterday,'' Gorbachev said. ``Our holy duty is to give Russia the possibility of a real choice.''
Gorbachev may believe he should be that choice, but his problem is that, to reformers, he remains an untrustworthy relic of the Communist past, while to Communists he is a turncoat who betrayed his party.
A poll last autumn by the Public Opinion Foundation found that Gorbachev, who held a succession of Communist party and government jobs but never faced voters, would get only 0.9 percent of the presidential vote.
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB