President Boris Yeltsin took a major step forward with his political reforms Friday, ordering a nationwide vote Dec. 12 on a new constitution to govern post-Soviet Russia.
"The time of Soviet power is ending. And thank God," Yeltsin said, appearing on national television to announce the plebiscite. He said that was "the most democratic way" to decide Russia's new constitution.The vote will be held the same day as elections for a new parliament, replacing two of the major political obstacles to Yeltsin's reforms left over from the previous Communist government. He has said a presidential election will be held in June, unless the new parliament decides otherwise.
Yeltsin's crackdown on opponents of reform has been popular among ordinary Russians, and it appears likely that sentiment will carry over to the new constitution. In addition, the president controls the news media and has banned opposition parties, ensuring he can contain debate about the measure.
Yeltsin had wavered between having the new parliament vote on the constitution that will replace the 1977 charter still technically in force or submitting it to the voters, who backed him in a referendum on his powers last April.
If the people do back him, Yeltsin will present the new parliament with a done deal - a move that shows who is boss and avoids a potentially long and fractious legislative debate over a new charter.
Plans for the constitution were a major source of conflict between Yeltsin and hard-line lawmakers in the previous parliament. They opposed many aspects of the president's draft, including private ownership of land.
Yeltsin told TV viewers the new constitution would be "a major stabilizing factor in Russian life."
The Constitutional Convention has not come up with a final draft for the constitution and more changes are expected. Yeltsin said it would be ready by Nov. 10 after more than three years in the making, which he called "more than enough."
The plebiscite will pose a single question: "Do you approve the constitution of the Russian Federation?"
Yeltsin has played an important role in shaping the new constitution. He wants to increase his own power and eliminate the vice presidency, a post that proved troublesome by creating a rival to the president.
Among the other important changes Yeltsin wants is a provision to allow the free purchase and sale of land, which would break with the Soviet past when the state owned most of Russia's land.
The drafters of the new charter have drawn on both the American and French constitutions. It sets out relations between the central government and the country's regions and creates a strong executive branch.
The old constitution, adopted during former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's rule, suffered from several major defects for Russia's fledgling democracy.
Under the old constitution, relations between the executive and legislative branches were not clearly defined and did not need to be because the Communist Party made the most important decisions.
The old constitution also made it easy for parliament to amend the constitution, which it did hundreds of times the past two years, often with the goal of blocking Yeltsin's reforms.