For Yeltsin's Foes, `It's Now Or Never'

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin is about to face his most serious challenge since the failed coup of August, 1991. Two powerful groups are launching sharp attacks on his reform efforts. One is a coalition of angry former communists and Russian nationalists called the National Salvation Front, which wants to oust Yeltsin and his government. The other, the more moderate Civic Union led by state-industry leader Arkady Volsky, is trying to put the brakes on a huge sell-off of state assets scheduled to start in December.

The showdown should begin at a special Congress of People's Deputies beginning on Dec. 1. Yeltsin suffered one tactical defeat recently when he lost a vote to delay the congress. While the big event will be a vote of confidence in the government, the real issue is the plan to sell off 60% of state industry by yearend 1993. Bureaucrats and managers of military enterprises are heavily represented in the congress. A core group of them still staunchly resist privatization, fearing it will cost them their jobs. "For those who want to retain privileges and stop reform, it's now or never," says Pyotr Filippov, chairman of the Russian parliament's subcommittee on privatization.