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| The princess left hospital later in the evening |
| 1990: Yeltsin resignation splits Soviet Communists |
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The populist politician and president of the Russian parliament, Boris Yeltsin, has resigned from the Soviet Communist Party.
The resignation has also led to a declaration from the small but influential radical reform group Democratic Platform that they would also break away.
The split leaves Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with a party in tatters.
It was thought that Mr Gorbachev hadappeasedthe reformers by ensuring the defeat of hardline conservative Yegor Ligachev in the race for the deputy leadership yesterday.
His favoured candidate, the pro-reform Vladimir Ivashko, was elected instead.
Dramatic speech
But it was not enough. Within hours of another vote to approve new party rules which still restrict factions operating within it, Mr Yeltsin stood up to address a hushed auditorium.
"In view of my great responsibility towards the people of Russia and in connection with the move towards a multi-party system I cannot fulfil only the instructions of the party," he said.
"As the highest elected figure in the republic, I have to bow to the will of all the people."
He then turned and left the chamber without another word.
Some delegates shouted "Shame", while a few clapped.
Mr Gorbachev, clearly expecting the move, was heard to say, "That ends the process logically," before instructing delegates to withdraw Mr Yeltsin's congress mandate.
The departure of a group of Democratic Platform delegates less than an hour later confirmed the split - the first since the Bolshevik-Menshevik divide which put Lenin in power in 1903.
Among those leaving are the popular new mayor of Leningrad, Anatoly Sobchak, and the mayor of Moscow, Gavriil Popov.
Figurehead
Mr Yeltsin has been a figurehead for radical reform of the party system for the last 18 months, and has been a trenchant critic of President Gorbachev for not going far enough with party reforms.
Despite that, he has remained at the centre of the Communist Party structure. His name was put forward for inclusion in the new Central Committee to be chosen this evening.
His real strength lies in his popular support among ordinary Russian people.
In an opinion poll carried out by the Moscow News newspaper earlier this month he scored an 84% popularity rating, making him by far the most trusted figure on the Soviet political scene.
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