THE eyes of Russia and the world are now firmly focused on election candidate Gen Alexander Lebed. The indications are that he is ready to do a deal which will boost President Yeltsin's chance of re election, if he had not already done so before the votes were cast on Sunday.
Yesterday Gen Lebed meet Mr Yeltsin in the Kremlin to "discuss the preliminary results of the election" and the Russian news agency, Interfax, reported that he would shortly meet the communist candidate, Mr Gennady Zyuganov.
With the final votes trickling in from western regions, Mr Yeltsin had won 35 per cent of the vote to Mr Zyuganov's 31.95 per cent, with Gen Lebed, just short of 15 per cent, placed in the role of king maker.
His endorsement would be a major boost to either candidate but at present all the signs point in Mr Yeltsin's direction.
There was a broad hint that a deal had been done when the President at his final election rally in Yekaterinburg referred to his possible successor in the Kremlin, using the words: "There is such a man" - a phrase which was the key slogan in Gen Lebed's television advertisements.
The two men had met in the final week before Russians went to the polls but both were tight lipped afterwards.
A senior western diplomat in Moscow believes Gen Lebed will be offered the post of deputy prime minister in charge of the "power ministries" which oversee the armed forces and the security and intelligence services.
This would put the position of the unpopular Defence Minister, Gen Pavel Grachev, responsible for the army's debacle in Chechnya, on the line and could cause a major upheaval throughout the massive complex of the Russian defence and security services.
It could also force Mr Yeltsin to desert some of his older more shadowy friends.
Gen Lebed started out as a rough diamond of a politician, having commanded the Russian army in the breakaway Transdniestria region of Moldbva. He has said Russia needed a man like the Chilean dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, but then moderated this to say Russia needed a "de Gaulle".
He has also said that the criminals of the Russian Mafia should be "shot like dogs", a job that the mafiosi have been quite capable of doing to themselves in the recent past.
As time has gone on, his stance on most issues has moderated. He has shown an increasing grasp of economic issues and his views in this sphere differ sharply from those of Mr Zyuganov.
Above all, his media campaigning has improved out of all recognition. Possessed of a deep bass voice which, as one colleague remarked, would make Paul, Robeson sound like a counter tenor, he has mastered the art of conveying the image of the tough but scrupulously honest Russian soldier.
His party did so badly in the Duma elections of December 1995 that it failed to register the 5 per cent necessary to gain representation in parliament. In the space of just six months he has more than trebled his support.
But even if he pledges his support to Mr Yeltsin it remains to be seen how many of the votes he gained on Sunday will be loyal to him in the second round, the date for which will be announced within a week but which will be held by July 14th at the latest.
