Yeltsin Suggests Lawmakers Join Him in Curbing Actions : Russia: Such an agreement, president says, would give government ministers a free hand to rebuild economy.

Trying to quell Russia’s political storms, President Boris N. Yeltsin on Wednesday offered his enemies in Parliament a deal--a voluntary limit on both their actions so government ministers could have a free hand to rebuild the country’s ravaged economy.

What’s more, Yeltsin would commit himself temporarily to coordinating decisions on sensitive matters like defense, security and foreign affairs with the predominantly conservative lawmakers, as well as to clearing appointments to Cabinet posts with them first--areas where Russia’s constitution largely leaves him sovereign.

“Then the government will be able to work freely and effectively. This will not be just another redistribution of powers, it will serve the interests of the economy,” explained Deputy Prime Minister Sergei M. Shakhrai, Yeltsin’s top legal adviser.

Yeltsin and his No. 1 political opponent, Supreme Soviet Chairman Ruslan I. Khasbulatov, gave themselves 10 days on Tuesday to craft a new power-sharing deal to extricate Russia from institutional deadlock and prevent a risky referendum in April.

Shakhrai, who revealed the essence of the proposal drafted by Yeltsin’s team in a news conference, said that for once, his 62-year-old boss would not be seeking more powers but would voluntarily and drastically curb his actions if lawmakers, who are often hostile to his reform programs, did likewise.

“A third force must be free to act. What force? The government of the Russian Federation,” Shakhrai said. “Such commitments would then assume the following aspect: The Supreme Soviet unilaterally undertakes not to interfere in the operational economic activities of the government.”

For his part, the deputy prime minister continued, Yeltsin might renounce the “ongoing management of government activities.” He would agree to coordinate government appointments with lawmakers and involve them directly in formulation of foreign, security and defense policies.

The five negotiators for Khasbulatov were supposed to swap draft proposals with Shakhrai’s team during the day. But details of the legislators’ counteroffer were not immediately made public. Lawmakers asked Khasbulatov to address them at a joint Supreme Soviet session today on what he had done.

Beguiling deals to lawmakers offered by Yeltsin, including his December concession to give the Supreme Soviet veto power over four key ministries, have often proven to include a catch in the fine print, so the Supreme Soviet will undoubtedly be wary. The real beneficiary of the plan would be Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, who since taking office last December has had in practice to answer to two masters--the president and the legislature.

Visiting the icebound Siberian city of Tomsk, a conciliatory Chernomyrdin said Wednesday that he is open to suggestions “from rightist, leftist, even extremist forces, if they help stabilization.”

Under the formula concocted by Yeltsin’s envoys, which the Interfax news agency said Yeltsin formally submitted to Khasbulatov, Russia’s Constitutional Court, the third pillar of government, would be the umpire, forcing the executive and legislative branches to respect their deal.

“I could imagine the issue being put in this way: If the president violates any of the agreements and commitments, he must resign,” Shakhrai said. “If the Supreme Soviet violates its engagements, the Supreme Soviet must be dissolved. If both sides violate the terms of the agreement, there should be early general elections.”

Shakhrai didn’t specify how long the accord would remain in place, but it seemed designed to last at least through 1993, which Yeltsin has said should see a shelving of political squabbling so officials can focus on the economy.

Shakhrai also did not explain how the president and the legislature could reasonably be expected to keep their hands for long off the most serious issue facing Russia today: the nitty-gritty of the transition from communism to capitalism.

At his one-on-one meeting Tuesday with Khasbulatov, Yeltsin called for an emergency session by next month of the Congress of People’s Deputies, Russia’s supreme government authority, to bless any deal he and Khasbulatov manage to reach. Or, Shakhrai said, the Constitutional Court could be asked to endorse it.

If Russia’s political rivals cannot concur, then the nationwide referendum on how to reforge the government of post-Soviet Russia and end the executive versus legislative deadlock should be held April 11 as planned, Shakhrai said.

Some members of Yeltsin’s coterie warn that the plebiscite could be used by the country’s national minorities to hold separate votes on independence, and they point out that as of this week, the single largest organized party in the land is most likely the reconstituted Communist Party of the Russian Federation, for whose members Yeltsin is a hated traitor.

“If this can be resolved without a referendum, I think the Russian people will be grateful to their government,” Shakhrai said.