The World - News from May 7, 1989

Communist firebrand Boris N. Yeltsin said that more than one person could be considered for the Soviet presidency, but he shied away from declaring himself a candidate to face the most likely contender, his one-time supporter, Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The Congress of People’s Deputies, the parliament to which Yeltsin was elected by a landslide, meets May 25 to choose a president from among its 2,250 members. If past Soviet Communist Party practice holds, Gorbachev, the current president and party general secretary, will be the only candidate. But in an interview, Yeltsin did not discount the possibility of alternative candidates. “There could be other suggestions from deputies,” he said.