TABLE OF CONTENTS
The 1993 Parliamentary Elections
Introduction........................................................................1
Polls Predict Victory for Russia’s Choice.............................3
Election Results Surprise Everyone.......................................3
Political Leaders React to Election Results............................5
Yeltsin Claims Victory, Personal Mandate............................7
How Could Zhirinovsky Have Done So Well?......................8
Are Russia’s People Too Immature for the Vote?.................11
Regional Voting Patterns......................................................12
Yeltsin-Duma Standoff Continues in 1994............................13
The 1995 Parliamentary Elections
Polls Show Public Opposes Chechen War, Yeltsin...............16
An Ill-Fated Attempt to Create Two Centrist Blocs..............17
The Budyonnovsk Tragedy and Its Political Fallout...............19
Election Law Disputed.........................................................20
Wildly Differing Preelection Predictions................................21
Yeltsin’s Desperate Last-Minute Appeal..............................24
1995 Election Results..........................................................26
How Political Leaders Reacted to Election Results...............28
Political Landscape Complicated After Communists’ Win.....29
Four Interpretations of the Elections.....................................31
West Reacts Calmly, Optimistically......................................34
Looking Ahead to the June Presidential Election...................34
Gaidar, Zyuganov: Two Views of a Communist Future.........36
The 1993 Constitution......................................................40