Vice President Alexander Rutskoi announced plans Friday to run for Russia's top post in hopes of succeeding his main critic - President Boris Yeltsin.
The widening rift between the former allies is part of the larger struggle for power, which was not resolved by Yeltsin's victory in the April 25 referendum on his leadership and reforms.Yeltsin on Thursday attacked Rutskoi's performance and integrity. Last month, he stripped him of some powers and privileges.
"After the president's speech . . . taking into account what the president and his inner circle do, I will put forward my candidacy," the Interfax news agency quoted Rut-skoi as saying.
Yeltsin has said he would not seek a second term when his five-year term expires in 1996, but he has not indicated whether he would run if early elections were scheduled. Only 31.7 percent of voters in the April referendum favored a proposal to hold early presidential elections.
Rutskoi is the first to announce his candidacy.
In parliament, meanwhile, Yeltsin's opponents denounced his proposal for a new constitution as an attempt to impose authoritarian rule.
Yeltsin's draft constitution calls for replacing the Congress of People's Deputies, a stronghold of Yeltsin's opponents, with a new bicameral legislature. It gives the president sweeping powers, including the right to dissolve parliament, appoint the Cabinet and introduce a state of emergency.
Yeltsin said he wants the new constitution to be approved by the Federation Council, comprised of leaders of republics and regions of Russia.