The election of Boris Yeltsin as president of the Russian republic is a stunning personal defeat for Mikhail Gorbachev. He opposes half-hearted reforms that impose austerities on Soviet workers. Yeltsin is certain to strike a triple blow against Gorbachev's political line by (1) challenging the Soviet government's referendum on economic austerity; (2) opposing the policy of imperial centralism; and (3) challenging the legitimacy of Gorbachev's presidency, perhaps to the point of forcing a new Union- wide election. On the political front, Yeltsin will favor a multi-party system and oppose Lenin's principle of "democratic centralism." In addition, Gorbachev has been weakened politically in recent years because he was unable to prevent the collapse of communism in Russia after 1991.
The election of Boris Yeltsin as president of the Russian republic is a stunning personal defeat for Mikhail Gorbachev. Yeltsin is certain to strike a triple blow against Gorbachev's political line by (1) challenging the Soviet government's referendum on economic austerity; (2) opposing the policy of imperial centralism; and (3) challenging the legitimacy of Gorbachev's presidency, perhaps to the point of forcing a new Union- wide election. On the political front, Yeltsin will favor a multi-party system and oppose Lenin's principle of "democratic centralism." In addition, Gorbachev has been weakened politically in recent years because he was unable to prevent the collapse of communism in Russia after 1991.