Russia's Communist-dominated Congress voted Thursday to strip President Boris Yeltsin of more of his powers and canceled a national referendum he had sought to cement his authority.
The resolution, which will be up for final approval Friday by the Congress of People's Deputies, dealt another blow to Yeltsin's eroding authority by weakening his ability to carry out market reforms and by making him more vulnerable to impeachment efforts.Although the Congress could change its mind, support for the measure was overwhelming and Yeltsin's chance of prevailing was slim.
Climaxing a series of votes on the second day of its emergency session, the Congress resoundingly voided an agreement reached with Yeltsin in December to hold a referendum on April 11. That referendum would have addressed the power struggle by asking the people who should govern Russia, the parliament or the president.
Deputies in the 1,033-member Congress ignored a call for compromise by Yeltsin, who earlier in the day issued a stern challenge to Russia's highest parliamentary body.
"The Congress must make a choice between agreement or confrontation," he said. "It's either one or the other."
His principal rival for power, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, shot back minutes later in an emotional speech that dismissed Yeltsin's proposals as "petty ideas." He said the only document the Congress would recognize was the Communist-era constitution.
The political showdown has been building for months as both the executive and legislative branches grapple for power in the vacuum left by the collapse of the ruling Communist Party in 1991.
The lawmakers, elected in Communist-run elections in 1990, did grant some concessions to Yeltsin in his efforts to gain control over the Central Bank. Reformers blame the bank for pushing the inflation rate to 2,000 percent last year by handing out credits to insolvent state enterprises.
A committee that included Yeltsin and Khasbulatov approved making the heads of the Central Bank, the State Property Fund and several other agencies members of the government. However, the agency heads will remain under the supervision of the Supreme Soviet, the smaller standing legislature.
It was not clear what other steps Yeltsin might take in the power struggle. Hard-liners fear he may try to impose some kind of presidential rule that would enable him to bypass the Congress.
Yeltsin's spokesman tried to put the best face on the developments, emphasizing the change in control of the bank.
"If the Congress approves the agreed statement, then we will have a substantially strengthened government, which will be able to conduct a precise, strong and sober financial policy. . . . And in this sense, we can say that the president's goal has been achieved," said the spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov.
The proposal passed by Congress on a 623-252 vote nullified an agreement reached by Yeltsin and the lawmakers in December, calling for the April referendum.
It was at that session that the Congress forced Yeltsin to drop his reformist acting prime minister, Yegor Gaidar, in favor of a career Soviet bureaucrat.
Public opinion polls have indicated Yeltsin is more popular than the legislature and might prevail in a referendum. But many regional officials, some fearing for their jobs, say such a vote could divide the nation.
The draft measure approved Thursday also would reinstate a constitutional amendment - suspended as part of the December agreement - that would strip Yeltsin of his power to rule by decree. He has used that power to implement market-oriented reforms hated by many hard-liners.
In a speech at the start of Thursday's session, Yeltsin accused the lawmakers of jeopardizing Russia's future.
"I favor strong power in Russia not because I am president, but because without it Russia will not survive and arise," he said to a cool response from the deputies.