Apparently, it was a mistake of Aleksandr Lebed to take the post ofKrasnoyarsk regional governor. Not so much because every mistake or failureof his is now used by critics and gives them a pretext to indulge in mudslinging,but because Lobe's most devoted adherents, those who tended to portrayhim as a Russian Pinochet, are becoming increasingly disappointed withtheir idol.

To begin with, Lebed has had a stormy conflict with the KrasnoyarskCoal Company. He publicly screamed about "frauds", "dogs","scoundrels",and 'their mothers' besieging the regional administration and businesses.

In a grand crescendo, Lebed prohibited local television from coveringmayoral elections in the city of Achinsk. The order was followed by theappearance of a police force in the television center courtyard.

All of these antics are beginning to look like the behavior of a hystericalhousewife rather than an experienced politician.
Lebed had hardly assumed the post when it became clear to all observersthat his army-style approach and chain-of-command principle are ill suitedto handling the region and its political life.

While the newly elected governor was getting acquainted with the situation,the region was ruled by other people, specifically by Lobe's aides, consultantsfrom Moscow whom he invited to work with him, and representatives of theKrasnoyarsk Aluminium Plant CEO Anatolii Bykov.

It was precisely thanks to Bykov's prestige and influence in the territorythat Alexander Lebed had no opponents during his first months. Formerlya boxer and currently a dictatorial 'aluminum king,' Bykov is regardedhighly by the local elite.

In the fall of 1998, Lebed's predecessor, Valerii Zubov, told a Vremyanews correspondent that there was no consolidated opposition to Lebed inthe territory precisely because nobody dared quarrel with Bykov.

Recent events have confirmed Zubov's statement. Lobe's problems beganimmediately after Bykov made an official announcement that he had severedall relations with Governor Lebed. The local establishment's reaction wasprompt and abrupt. Everybody suddenly started taking notice of events and,with unanimity reminiscent of the good old bad Soviet days condemned theincumbent governor.

Local media, which until recently had only allowed themselves a fewbites at Lebed, declared full war on him. The territorial legislative assembly,which only one week ago expressed its wholehearted support for the Lebed-Bykovtandem, hurried to pass a resolution ordering the formation of a territorialgovernment and imposing limits on Lobe's powers. Heads of local industrieslined up to sign an appeal to the governor for him to resign.

It has suddenly turned out that there is no political or economic forcein the territory that would unconditionally support Governor Lebed. Evenhis own party, For Honor and Motherland, has suddenly asserted its independenceand split into two factions: the local wing has gone into overt oppositionto Lebed and the guest-wing, which consists of those who arrived with Lebedin Krasnoyarsk, is trying hard to preserve loyalty to its boss.

Lebed has picked up the gauntlet thrown by Bykov. The problem is thathe has no power to win the battle. At the same time, the war cannot bestopped with a stroke of a pen. Therefore, it will be waged until the bitterend and the end will show what is stronger: a legitimate, though not quitecompetent, power or an organized clique of businessmen who unofficiallycontrol the territory's economy.