Russian Leaders Sign ‘Civic Accord’ as Respite From Strife

Arrayed at a gleaming Kremlin table that seemed to be the size of a football field, everyone who is anyone in Russia’s political and social leadership turned out Thursday to sign a “civic accord” meant to give the country a two-year break from strife.

“Russia is weary of torrents of mutual insults from various rostrums, of endless clashes in the media,” President Boris N. Yeltsin told the gathering. “We do not want verbal wars to turn into street clashes and mass unrest.”

It remains to be seen whether the civic accord, on which Yeltsin has focused much of his energy in recent weeks, will actually keep any of its signers from striking, arguing or fighting in the streets as it is supposed to do. Other pieces of paper, like the constitution and the legal code, have not.

The best that could be said for the agreement signed Thursday was that Yeltsin actually managed to gather such an array of leaders--from ultranationalist Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky to free-market economist Yegor T. Gaidar--to sign it.

Holdouts remained, among them the leader of Russia’s Communist Party, who attended but did not sign, several regional chiefs and leaders of the Agrarian and reformist Yabloko factions of Parliament. None of the hard-core opposition to Yeltsin, including former Vice President Alexander V. Rutskoi, attended.

The more than 200 individuals who did appear included representatives of groups such as the Union of Women of the Russian Navy, a union of private detectives and two groups of Cossacks.

But even those who might have been some of the greatest enthusiasts of the accord took the grandiose ceremony with some skepticism.

Gaidar, now leader of the pro-Yeltsin Russia’s Choice party, admitted that “I have never had any illusions that one document, however serious it was, could solve the serious problems in Russia. However, at least there will be a basis for transforming political confrontation from its current uncivilized nature to a more civilized one.”

Zhirinovsky, in typical fashion, made a joke of the whole thing. He told reporters on his way to the ceremony that he would decide whether to sign based on whether Yeltsin smiled at him. Diners at the post-signing banquet quipped back that they were treated to Zhirinovsky-brand vodka, with a map on its label of Russia expanded to the old borders of the Soviet Union.

Russian regional leaders appeared unimpressed with Thursday’s pact.

“Who is arguing against accord? Accord can be achieved only by real deeds,” said Aman Tuleyevm, a leader of the government of Kemerovo in Western Siberia. “Unfortunately, ordinary people downstairs will not feel better because (leaders) here signed something on paper and kissed each other.”

Boris G. Fyodorov, the former Russian finance minister, put it even more bluntly: “The more we sign various documents on accord, the more rows we will have.”

Thursday’s proceedings began with a moment of silence for a lawmaker killed by a shotgun blast earlier this week in an apparently mob-related murder. The uproar in Parliament on Wednesday over the death threatened briefly to spoil the ceremony for the accord. But lawmakers contented themselves with their still-unsatisfied demand for Yeltsin to fire his interior minister for allegedly failing to crack down sufficiently on organized crime.

Yeltsin chaired the ceremony and emphasized in his speeches that Russia cannot afford violent discord when it is in the midst of sweeping economic and political changes.

“We want peace in Russia, we want the strengthening of our united democratic state,” he said.

The accord, as he presented it, appeared to be his way of trying to guarantee that nothing like the clashes of last October--which began after he dissolved the old Parliament and ended with his ordering the storming of the rebels holed up in the Russian White House--would ever be repeated.

Instead, it seemed to be drawing the battle lines all over again. Rutskoi, released from prison under last month’s amnesty, has announced that he hopes to lead the opposition to Yeltsin and said he would use the accord to determine who his allies are.

“I will see who signs it, who voluntarily puts a muzzle on himself,” Rutskoi told NTV last Sunday. “And I will try to unite those left without a muzzle.”

The text of the accord, which was still being changed as late as Wednesday night, requires those signing to refrain from calling for early federal elections or proposing consitutional amendments that could destabilize society. They also pledge to keep rallies peaceful.

The government, in turn, promises to lower inflation, improve taxes, pay overdue salaries and raise living standards. Unions vow not to organize strikes to squeeze more money out of the government. Regions promise to send taxes to Moscow more regularly.

A reconciliation commission is created to oversee how the treaty is carried out. Its continued last-minute metamorphosis reflected the great political pressures on Yeltsin stemming from Communists who wanted more mention of the gap between rich and poor, regional leaders worried about Moscow keeping its hands off their local laws, and others.

The treaty appears to lack any teeth at all, providing for no sanctions against those who violate the accord after signing it. It also remains open indefinitely for more people to sign.