Yeltsin Announces Regional Elections

President Boris Yeltsin has scheduled regional elections for December 1996, his office said Monday.

The elections to local legislatures will be held the following December, a statement said.

As in Soviet times, many regional leaders and the heads of Russian autonomous regions are still appointed by Yeltsin, who also decides when and whether elections will be held.

Sergei Filatov, Yeltsin’s chief of staff, said the announcement sets a legal basis for election campaigns in Russia’s regions.

“We have been living through a period of unorganized election campaigns for many years,” Filatov told the Interfax news agency.

“Elections of heads of administration are held in some regions, while elections to local legislatures are held in others.”

However, the concept of free elections does not mean “free elections at any time,” as many regional leaders think, he said.