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#1 - JRL 6587
Moscow News
December 4-10, 2002
Yeltsin's New Role
Viktor Loshak
When some yelled in delight while others slumped in their seats crestfallen, he climbed over the barrier, defying his wife and bodyguards, and rushed onto the court. A beaming Yeltsin was in such a hurry as though it was he who had broken Frenchman Mathieu. Victory!
Those who were watching the fifth game of the Davis Cup live, could observe two dramas at once: on the court, Yuzhny-Mathieu; on the sidelines, Yeltsin with his wife, granddaughter, bodyguards, and other members of his entourage. For some reason with Yeltsin there you felt that victory was more likely. There was something about his strong wish that communicated itself not only several meters down to the court, but also hundreds of kilometers to TV viewers.
The more vigorous Boris Yeltsin is, the more often you think about his new role in a new Russia. Yeltsin's own offer - the status as president/mentor - was turned down. Everyone remembers Putin's statement to the effect that there is only one president in Russia an! d this president is responsible for the country. Some time after the 2000 New Year's Eve, it turned out that a stand-in president, adjusting Putin's foreign policy line, as was the case with Belarus, or securing him against deviation from democratic values, was simply unnecessary. But Yeltsin is not the kind of person who, with limited exposure to the media, will be pottering about his garden and measuring his blood pressure three times a day. Whoever will believe that Yeltsin's ambition is satisfied with the external trappings of presidential power that were left him by his successor?
Putin is so overwhelmingly acknowledged as leader that it is difficult for Yeltsin to find areas where his influence has not as yet been closed off. His initiative concerning Russian-Belarusian relations was a non-starter. Challenging a shift to the left, as was the case when Boris Yeltsin rejected the national anthem - this is none of your business. What is left then? Tennis? Maybe also volleyball?
It seems he has found a role, after all - patron of sports. Even in an interview he does not separate himself from the tennis team, saying: "We lost two sets," "we had no doubts about Safin's serve," etc.
In the end, Russia having no legislative base for a monarchy, we have a person who performs the same function as royals do in many European countries: representation. Is this not the role now assigned to Mr. and Mrs. Yeltsin?
Then there is only one question from taxpayers. Did the delegation pay for its trip to France to support our tennis players out of its own pocket or did it travel at our expense? I for one would not mind in the least if it had been a business trip for Yeltsin and his entourage. It is simply that in any country that has a person performing representative functions, his budget and perks are open to the electorate. This is more important than whether these figures will please all those who never liked Yeltsin, and still don't. The country and its first pre! sident need each other. Yet we also need clear-cut rules for this relationship.
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