Editorials
Monday, September 30, 1996
Yeltsin's illness
could destabilize Russia
RUSSIA faces a period of great uncertainty as the nation waits for President Boris Yeltsin to undergo heart bypass surgery. Doctors say Yeltsin is fit enough to have the bypass but they delayed his operation for at least six weeks to improve the chances of success. Until the operation is performed and is pronounced a success, Russians will have to live with the fact that their leader is seriously ill and may die at any time.
Meanwhile other prominent figures are maneuvering for position to succeed the ailing Yeltsin, adding to the confusion. Security chief Alexander Lebed declared that Russia is on the brink of chaos and the army maymutiny because of the government's failure to pay the soldiers. Lebed seemed to be implying that the situation called for drastic measures - presumably by him. He called on Yeltsin to relinquish power. However, Defense Minister Igor Rodionov said the situation in the army was under control.
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, second in rank behind Yeltsin and a potential rival to Lebed for the presidency,issued a rallying cry for unity, aimed at heading off dissension in his cabinet during the prolonged uncertainty over Yeltsin's health.
The famed U.S. heart surgeon Michael DeBakey provided a measure of reassurance by announcing that Yeltsin is in good spirits, looks healthy and can work three or four hours a day. DeBakey said after seeing Yeltsin that he didn't look like a sick man. However, he definitely has looked frail in recent public appearances and the announcement that he needs a bypass can't be taken lightly.
No one knows what would happen if Yeltsin died or became incapacitated, but there would be a struggle for power, and it could get violent. Under Presidents Bush and Clinton, the United States has developed friendly relations with the new non-Communist Russia, but that could change quickly without Yeltsin as its leader. Yeltsin's re-election earlier this year after trailing in the polls was a relief to Washington, but it has proved to be only a temporary one.
A nasty knock-out pill
FRIGHTENING tales about Rohypnol - including the Florida man who told authorities he used the "date-rape" drug to assault as many as 20 women - have led to congressional action. Last week, Senate Republicans promised to expedite a House-passed bill that would establish a 15-year prison term for the use of Rohypnol, and up to 20 years when the victim is age 14 or younger. Increased prison time for the possession of "roofies" should be replicated in Hawaii law.
Earlier this month, a Florida couple was caught trying to smuggle 30 tablets of Rohypnol into Hawaii from Bangkok; at least a half-dozen other cases have been reported by U.S. Customs here. The pending federal legislation (importation of Rohypnol was banned last summer) should assist local efforts to get Rohypnol classified alongside its dangerous cousins - heroin, methaqualone and LSD.
Japanese elections
THERE'S a reason why Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto has set Oct. 20 as the date for parliamentary elections - eight months earlier than required. Hashimoto is hoping to return his Liberal Democratic Party to an absolute majority, restoring the status it enjoyed for nearly four decades until it was toppled in 1993. Since then Japan has been ruled by a series of coalition governments, the most recent headed by the LDP in an odd alliance with its former adversaries, the Socialists.
Even with the early elections, the LDP is expected to fall 20 to 30 seats short of an absolute majority. If so, it will again need a coalition partner in order to govern. The elections will be the first under reforms to correct a system that heavily favored rural districts over urban areas, which helped keep the LDP in power for so many years. But the party apparently still has enough support to dominate the government, thanks to the failure of the reformers to take effective action when they had their chance to govern.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor