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Yes, it's the talk of the world. Despite his reelection in 1996, this president has long been the target of impeachment efforts and investigations. He's a feckless "leader" who may have stood for something at some point in the past, but now seems to have no particular political principles other than keeping himself in power. The make-or-break proceedings are expected to be in 1999, and I for one support throwing the rascal out on his ear.
But getting back to Yeltsin - impeachment proceedings are dealt with in Chapter 4, Article 93 of the 1993 Constitution. They provide that impeachment may only occur for "state treason or other grave crime". Nonetheless, the charges against him, especially as compared to those against Clinton, are much more political than legal. He is charged with:
Needless to say, this allows for just a tad of elbow room with regard to interpretation. This bill of particulars bears the mark of its main sponsors, the Duma Communists (who presumably consider the preservation of Soviet power to include retaining the Baltic republics and putting down the rebellion in Novocherkassk in 1962, but not retaining Chechnya or putting down the rebellion in Moscow in 1993). But, even the liberal Yabloko party is involved to some extent; they support the charge regarding the Chechnya war. Interestingly, just as Duma Speaker (and Communist) Gennady Seleznev was announcing that he expected a full Duma vote in January, an official audit accused Gazprom and Unified Energy Systems (the Russian gas and electricity monopolies respectively) of helping finance Yeltsin's 1996 campaign in return for tax breaks. These tax breaks included the 250-fold reduction in tax liabilities on Gazprom's $6.6 billion profit from a 1996 privatization deal. That deal was implemented by presidential decree. Also, the report accused the administration in general and the president in particular of diverting $7.4 billion from the budget in 1995. But, none of that is even being considered for the articles of impeachment, any more than the previous book and other scandals relating to privatization deals. I guess it's just too...well...generic for such a partisan bunch as the Communists. As I've said, believe me, I want Yeltsin gone, and the sooner the better. But not as a result of a political witch-hunt, let alone one led by the wonderful folks who gave us Novocherkassk.
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