>>725141There’s an argument he was. IIRC, the Yeltsin Russian Constitution was strongly inspired by the Chilean Pinochet era Constitution, that had sweeping powers to the executive.
>The link was José Piñera, a Chilean economist and former minister under Pinochet. Piñera, a proponent of free-market reforms, was a close associate of Yeltsin's key advisor and Deputy Prime Minister, Anatoly Chubais. Chubais was the mastermind of Russia's privatization program.>The Russian president has the power to issue decrees that have the force of law, appoint the prime minister (even if parliament disapproves), and dissolve the parliament under certain conditions.>The State Duma (the lower house) has very limited ability to check the president. It can reject the president's nominee for prime minister three times, after which the president can dissolve it.There was also Yeltsin’s re-election campaign in 1996. He was extremely unpopular with an 8% approval rating, while the KPRF was the main opposition party and looked like it was about to win. However, Yeltsin and his cronies got together to manipulate the election. They had complete media control, so they completely ignored the Communists. If they mentioned them, then it was a return to evil Stalinism. Then the Americans sent a marketing firm to be embedded deeply within the Yeltsin team to secure his re-election and offer advice and strategy. (There was a film made about it.) Just before the election, he announced a raft of promises and treats, which he never planned to achieve. Then finally, there was good old-fashioned rigging.