Word: referendum
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Nevertheless, Khasbulatov insisted as last week began that Yeltsin had violated the constitution when he claimed "special rule" over the country pending a national referendum on April 25. Khasbulatov, a former professor of economics, demanded a judgment by the Constitutional Court. Even though the decree Yeltsin said he had signed had not been published, the court obliged, ruling that the President could not legally declare one-man rule or call a referendum, though he could ask the nation for a vote of confidence...
...momentum. Although the Kremlin rang with bitter invective, the hard-liners did not have the votes to depose Yeltsin. Zorkin, the Chief Justice who had set the impeachment bandwagon in motion, instead offered a 10-point plan for national reconciliation similar to Yeltsin's own program, including a referendum on a new constitution and a law abolishing the Congress in favor of a bicameral parliament...
...remained unclear if in fact one can be reached. Early in the week Russia's Constitutional Court ruled that President Boris Yeltsin's proclamation of "special rule" was unconstitutional, a declaration expected to form the basis for impeachment. But when Yeltsin finally published his decree for an April referendum on his own rule and the outline of a new constitution, it did not mention special rule. The court looked at best overly hasty and partisan in condemning a nonexistent document...
...would it be safe for Yeltsin to leave Russia then, amid the turmoil preceding the April 25 referendum? Could he even survive until the vote? The legislative bodies, packed with industry bosses, collective-farm managers and apparatchiks elected under the old communist system, had no intention of going quietly into what their Bolshevik forebears called the dustheap of history. The Supreme Soviet began meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss Yeltsin's actions, while the Congress of People's Deputies was likely to be called into its own session starting Wednesday...
...popularity contest. His ratings have risen slightly -- 36% of Muscovites polled last week approved of his job performance, up 6 points from February -- but he is not as well liked as he was two years ago. Even more worrisome, only 42% said they would vote in a referendum. That is bad news for Yeltsin; he has to attract more than 50% of the electorate to the polls if the tally is to be considered valid. And he must win a heavy majority of that majority to be unmistakably the people's choice. Says Stephen Sestanovich, director of Russian and Eurasian...