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Journalism of Courage
October 22: An ailing President Boris Yeltsin skipped another day of work in the Kremlin to pay a flash visit to the hospital on Wednesday for a check-up apparently linked to a bout of bronchitis that has sidelined him this month. Yeltsin 8220;for a very brief time left his suburban residence for a planned checkup at the Central Clinical Hospital,8221; presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told the Moscow Echo radio station.
The Russian President underwent an X-ray, the Kremlin said, after which he returned to the Gorky-9 suburban Moscow residence where he has spent most of the past nine days recovering from a reported chill and throat condition that developed during his aborted trip to Central Asia. Yakushkin said doctors diagnosed Yeltsin8217;s condition as 8220;normal8221;.
Yeltsin often vanishes from view for long periods and this year he has mostly abdicated daily management of Russian affairs to his ever-changing governments. But while Yeltsin has ruled out running for a third term as President in 2000, he has ignored Opposition calls for him to step down on health grounds before the term runs out.
Yeltsin8217;s approval ratings, undermined both by his physical frailty and his inability to pull the country out of a financial nosedive, have hovered barely above zero in recent weeks.
His aides have insisted that Yeltsin will still attend an EU-Russia summit in Vienna next week, although European officials said last weekend there were 8220;serious doubts8221; the Russian President would attend.
Meanwhile, a top cabinet official said Yeltsin must swallow his pride and find himself a vice president who can attend to state affairs ona daily basis. The suggestion by First Deputy Prime Minister Vadim Gustov cut at the heart of Yeltsin8217;s constitutional powers. The Russian President in 1993 abolished the post when it belonged to arch-rival Alexander Rutskoi, and later attacked the parliament with tanks for disagreeing with his decision.
