RUSSIA-Verdict for Going Slow

Verdict for Going Slow THE results of the elections in Russia are a cause for some surprise but not for alarm, a feeling expressed by many. The surprise is understandable given the slanted media coverage of the Russian scene in the last couple of years. The media, in its enthusiasm for the rapid economic reforms set in motion by Yeltsin and his aides, had nearly blocked out the parallel sentiment for a more cautious approach to reforms. Alternatively, it had tried to run this sentiment down attributing it to a handful of communist apparatchiks, left over from the old regime, who stood to lose through reforms whatever political influence they still managed to command.