Yeltsin Fires Prime Minister And Entire Government

President Boris Yeltsin fired his prime minister and the entire government Monday, Russian press reports said.

The reports, attributed to Yeltsin’s press service, gave no further details or explanation for the sudden dismissals.

Yeltsin’s announcement came as a bombshell. Chernomyrdin has been seen as a loyal premier who served more than five years as scores of other Cabinet officials had come and gone.

However, there had been strong speculation recently that Chernomyrdin would be a candidate for president in 2000.

While the 67-year-old Yeltsin has a reputation for unpredictability, the dismissal of his entire government would be unprecedented, even by a president famous for doing the unexpected.

The president had been critical of Chernomyrdin and his top two deputies for failing to fulfill his promises to pay back wages and other arrears.

Also reportedly dismissed where the government’s top two economic reformers, first deputy prime ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov, the key architects of the government’s reform program.