Communist Party Chief Blasted at Party Conference =================================== MOSCOW, Dec 3, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Delegates blasted Russian Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov Saturday for lack of initiative as a two-day congress got underway here Saturday, the news agency RIA-Novosti reported. Even though the communists had the largest number of seats in the Duma, they were not making their mark on legislative projects, Vsevolod Sevostianov, the secretary of the Krasnoyarsk regional committee said. The communist president of the Duma, Gennady Seleznev, was also roundly attacked, and accused of being behind a "schism in the heart of the party," the agency said. About 20 regional committees had also questioned Zyuganov's joint role as party chief and head of the party within parliament, Vladislav Yurtchi, head of the control commission of the party said. "Sooner or later, it will be necessary to find a solution," he added .. The Communists are the biggest single party, with 88 seats, in the 450-member lower house of parliament. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Communist Anti-Semite Calls for "Elimination" of Russian Oligarchs ============================================= MOSCOW, Dec 3, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Communist Deputy Albert Makashov, well-known for his anti-Semitic outbursts, on Sunday called for the elimination of Russia's hugely wealthy clan of "oligarchs," many of whom are Jewish. "(President Vladimir) Putin: wipe out all the oligarchs," Makashov railed in a speech before the Communist Party's annual congress in Moscow. "Give the people back our oil, gas and electricity. Kick all your entourage out of Kremlin, traitors with dual or even triple nationality. The people want this," he said, according to extracts broadcast by private NTV television. Last year many politicians had called for the Communist Party to be banned after speeches and articles by Makashov advocating the murder and systematic imprisonment of Jews. In October 1998 he promised to "send to the next world at least 10 kikes [derogatory for Jews]," at a meeting of Communist militants. A fellow deputy, Viktor Ilyukin, said there were "too many Jews in the entourage of President Boris Yeltsin," and said he wanted to establish nationality quotas. A group of tycoons who swept to riches on the ashes of the Soviet Union, the "oligarchs" acquired the jewels of Russia's state-owned assets in early 1990s privatizations at bargain basement prices. Wielding huge influence in the Yeltsin era thanks to close ties with Kremlin inner circles, the businessmen have come under pressure since Putin's election in March. The president of Russia's Jewish congress is exiled independent media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky, who is currently wanted by the Russian justice department on fraud charges. A prominent critic of the Kremlin, Gusinsky's supporters have hinted that the Russian authorities have launched a witch-hunt against him and fellow media tycoon Boris Berezovsky, in part motivated by their common Jewish origins. But political observers say the two men are being targeted in a bid by Putin to get rid of troublesome political opponents and clamp down on the independent media in Russia. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
