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December 24, 1999/15 Tevet 5760, Vol. 52, No.17
Russian leaders applaud democracy
LEV GORODETSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
MOSCOW - Russian Jewish leaders are applauding what they are calling a victory for democracy in this week's parliamentary elections.
"It is good that many leaders from the democratic wing have won seats in the new Duma," said Mikhail Chlenov, the president of the Va'ad, a Russian Jewish umbrella group.
Still more important, he said, "is that all anti-Semitic blocs have been either banned from the race or have lost in the elections."
But observers say it is too soon to say how the results from the Dec. 19 elections - which boost the representation of moderate parties and diminish that of the Communists - would play out on issues important to Jews, including the recent trend toward increased anti-Semitism.
Pinchas Goldschmidt, the chief rabbi of Moscow, agreed that "less Communist influence and more democratic parties in the Duma is a sign that democracy is developing in our society." But he said he does not believe the elections will bring any significant changes.
American Jewish groups that monitor the situation in the former Soviet Union expressed cautious optimism.
"The cards have been shuffled," said Mark Levin, executive director of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. "(We may) be looking at a different situation in the months ahead," he said, noting that the Communist Party's reduced influence as a result of the elections could mean more opportunity for political and economic reform.
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