Zhirinovsky Plans Run For President

Vladimir Zhirinovsky told voters in Russia’s Far North on Monday that he will run for president in 1996.

The ultranationalist has made his intentions known before. But the latest announcement, reported by the ITAR-Tass news agency, came as Moscow’s military action in the rebel republic of Chechnya appears to have hurt President Boris Yeltsin’s popularity.

Zhirinovsky has backed the military offensive but says his Liberal Democratic Party is ready for early presidential and parliamentary elections, ITAR-Tass said. The next presidential elections are scheduled for June 1996.

Zhirinovsky’s party won the most votes in 1993 parliamentary elections but his popularity has also declined..

He was in the autonomous Komi Republic to generate support for the party’s candidates in local legislative elections, ITAR-Tass said.