Boris Yeltsin: Russia's Maverick

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Though Yeltsin never actually urged people to vote nyet, his refusal to endorse the measure irked Gorbachev. The day before the massive rally outside the Kremlin, Yeltsin had called upon the people to "declare war on the leadership of the country, which has led us into this quagmire." In true Yeltsin style, the Russian leader admitted several days later that perhaps he should not have used the word war, but the damage was done. Soviet officials would give Yeltsin TV time only under restrictive conditions, so the ever resourceful Russian leader took calls from citizens at the office of the liberal daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, which then published a transcript.

Complete results of the balloting were not expected until the end of this week, and even then, in spite of official predictions, it might be difficult to interpret them. Six of the Soviet Union's 15 republics -- the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, plus Georgia, Armenia and Moldavia -- have refused to participate, though some of their residents, mostly Russians, will vote anyway. Special polling places have been set up in ethnic-Russian areas in non-Russian republics. For voters in the armed forces, 6,827 military polling districts have been set up.

While the voting is only an expression of public opinion, and will have no effect on the independence of republics, most politicians see it as a referendum on Gorbachev's leadership. It is possible he sees it that way himself. The Soviet President put his personal authority on the line last week in a nationally televised plea for a yes vote. "The point at issue," he said, "is the fate of the country, the fate of our homeland, our common home, how we and our grandchildren shall live."

Gorbachev announced the referendum last December as part of his plan to push and pull the rebellious republics into signing a new treaty of union. The treaty, to replace one that created the U.S.S.R. in 1922, would redefine and somewhat loosen the relationship between member republics and the central government in Moscow. Because leaders of several independence-minded republics resisted the idea, Gorbachev decided to go over their heads to the voters. He was confident the majority would vote his way; those republics that balked still would not be allowed to secede.

As head of the largest and richest republic, Yeltsin was not prepared to fall into line until his demands for less control by the central government and more extensive sovereignty for Russia had been met. He objected to the first draft of the treaty and last week said he still had problems with the new version, which provides for sharing economic power and even for changing the name of the country (to what is artfully fudged in the text). At issue, said Yeltsin, was not simply whether to preserve the Union, but how to improve it. "If we preserve it in its present form," he said, "then we are preserving not the country but the system that is ruining the country today."