When the president of a large country shows up for work four days in a row the event does not normally become a news item. In Russia, however, President Yeltsin's return to the Kremlin has attracted serious attention from the international news media. This attention serves merely to emphasise once again that the situation in Europe's most populous country, and the world's largest geopolitical territory, is far from normal.
Such a burst of energy, if shown by another leader in another place, might be seen as a welcome return to health. In Russia, however, there is an element of intrigue behind almost every report. In this case the context in which to assess the situation is a power struggle between Mr Yeltsin and his prime minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov. The dramatic arrival of Mr Yeltsin at the funeral of King Hussein and his more dramatic early departure can be put down in part, but only in part, to his wish to make contact once more with his friends Presidents Clinton and Chirac. More importantly the move was designed to embarrass Mr Primakov, a leading Arabist, who had planned to be Russia's representative at the funeral.
Mr Primakov for his part has elicited a major political concession from the Yeltsin camp which has announced that, as an instance of good will, it is prepared to cede its power to dismiss the prime minister without the approval of parliament. This cession of power is regarded as extra-constitutional by some legal experts. It is something, therefore, that might be withdrawn at a moment's notice and it is at a moment's notice that Mr Yeltsin has made many of his most important political decisions in the past.
The sudden return to working mode by Mr Yeltsin could herald an equally sudden change in the balance of Russian power which had been shifting emphatically in the prime minister's direction. Against this background Mr Primakov has made the extraordinary statement that he is prepared to release 94,000 petty criminals to make room in Russia's overcrowded prison system for those guilty of political corruption and economic crime. There is little doubt that he has some of Mr Yeltsin's erstwhile associates in mind. There have been several drives against corruption in Russia in the past all of them less than concentrated in their intensity. This one, if it is allowed to take place, could be very different.
Mr Primakov's background was in one of the few Russian state organisations noted for its efficiency. He is a former head of the KGB. In recent weeks he has been drafting former colleagues from that organisation into his administration. Attempts, some already successful, to place former spies in key positions in the media, and the undoubted popularity a true anti-corruption campaign would engender, have convinced some observers that Mr Primakov is about to launch a campaign for next year's presidential elections. Mr Yeltsin has been disbarred by the Supreme Court from seeking a third term but there is little doubt he would like to see a more amenable candidate than Mr Primakov as the front runner. At a time when Russia needs stability more than ever before, petty rivalry can only do harm to a country already on the brink of economic collapse.