MOSCOW : Writing a Basic Law
Russia’s Constitutional Convention convenes again Friday to continue working on a new Basic Law to present to voters in a nationwide referendum Dec. 12.
Although it has been heavily amended, the existing constitution, now 16 years old, still resembles one written for a totalitarian state in which all power flowed from the Communist Party. This exacerbated the political stalemate created when the interests of separate branches of government collided--an impossible situation under the Soviet system.
The convention is using as a base a draft constitution proposed earlier this year by President Boris N. Yeltsin, though there are objections to the Russian leader’s plans to strip the provinces of the special governmental status they enjoy under the existing law.
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