RUSSIA: POLITICIAN'S WIVES ARE IMPORTANT PART OF ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS

Russian/Nat

With only two weeks to go before Russia's presidential elections, a new feature is emerging in Russian political life.

There was a time when a politician's wife was simply never seen: even under Glasnost ,when Mikhail Gorbachev's wife Raisa tried to find a public role, she was met with a barrage of criticism at home.

But now the politician's wife is an essential part of any campaign.

When Boris Yeltsin goes out to meet his people his wife is never far behind.

Although she claims to be uninterested in politics, Naina Yeltsin has become an integral part of her husband's campaign.

She started to assume a public, even political role, when the president was in hospital with heart trouble last year. She read out updates on his health and defended his policies.

Now she even makes solo campaign tours on his behalf.

By showing the public more of himself and his family, Yeltsin is arguably making Russia's political process more open and democratic.

Svetlana Sorokina, the anchorwoman of Russian Television's flagship news programme Vesti, says the country needs to have a visible First Lady but not an American-style wife like Hillary Clinton.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"The only thing we should have is that the women keep things in right proportion and an understanding of this country which hasn't yet got used to the active political participation of women. And we need this because otherwise we'll continue to see men standing in a row waving like this and wearing grey jackets and hats."
SUPER CAPTION: Svetlana Sorokina, Russian TV anchorwoman

When Leonid Brezhnev appeared in public there was no wife by his side.

His private life was a closed book.

This was the accepted style of Soviet leaders and it was only on his death that television viewers got a glimpse of Viktoria Brezhnev as she lead the funeral cortege.

But the arrival of the Gorbachevs in the Kremlin not only saw the start of a new political and economic course for the USSR but also the launch of Raisa as a public figure.

She's back in the limelight again, backing her husband's presidential bid even though she initially opposed his decision to run.

As the country's first First Lady she was extolled by the West but much maligned by the Soviets who were unaccustomed to her role and considered her taste for expensive designer clothes as frivolous.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Here in Russia it was taken as a kind of revolution - a form of Perestroika. And I don't think it was a reaction to me personally. But you're right it was a reaction to me openly appearing in public because this was unprecedented in our society."
SUPER CAPTION: Raisa Gorbachev, former First Lady

All too aware of the bad impression that Raisa made, Naina Yeltsin is careful not to overstep the mark and overshadow her husband.

She has nurtured an image closer to Barbara Bush than Hillary Clinton, conforming to the widely proclaimed virtues for Russian wives - modesty, deference and common sense.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"Naina is present but she's always a step behind Yeltsin. She's not always with him. And at the same time we see absolutely nothing of nor know anything about the Communist
leader's wife and for me that's also symptomatic of this sense that the leader is without a personal life - there's no family, wife, or children. We don't know what Zyuganov's wife looks like."
SUPER CAPTION: Svetlana Sorokina, Russian TV news anchorwoman

The Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov says he has new political ideas but his approach to public relations is firmly rooted in the past.

His wife Nadezhda is never seen on the hustings and many voters would be hard pressed to know her name.
KEYWORDS: WOMEN'S ISSUES
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