Russians in Brighton Beach were hardly surprised that Boris Yeltsin stepped down yesterday — they expected it.
“We knew for three or four months that it was going to happen like this — that he would resign and Putin would be put in his place,” said Simon Makhlin, manager of the National Restaurant.
Makhlin foresaw Yeltsin’s departure once Vladimir Putin, the acting president and former prime minister, began making his meteoric rise to the top.
And even though Yeltsin’s departure was anticipated, most community members believe the democratic leader should have left office sooner.
“He should have done it a long time ago,” said Alexandra Baligula, an employee at the Odessa Restaurant, “because he’s a sick man and can’t manage the country.”
While Yeltsin’s ailments have been the subject of discussions for years, most agree that his resignation is motivated by political, not personal, reasons.
One travel-company owner said that by stepping aside for Putin, Yeltsin and his allies have handpicked a successor who can win the Russian elections in the coming months.
“They want Putin in position so he can be ready to be president,” said Michael Stein, owner of Softline Travel. “Yeltsin understood he could never be elected president again because of his health and the situation of the country.”
Another Brooklyn worker, who wished to remain unidentified, holds no grudges against Yeltsin, accepting his apologies and hoping Putin will revitalize the Eastern European nation, which has been plagued by corruption and financial missteps.
“Putin is better. He’s younger and will bring new ideas, new economics there,” he said.