[1] In October 1990, the first secretary of the CPSU regional committee Anatoly Berezin, resigned, who had led the republic for 19 years.
In October 1991. the Supreme Soviet of Mordovia established the presidency and called the election for 14 December 1991, but the former nomenklatura failed to gather together and nominate a single candidate.
[2] A former engineer with little to no political experience, Guslyannikov faced opposition both from nomenklatura and the democrats and was unable to form a sustainable administration.
In April 1993, taking advantage of growing discontent in the public, the Supreme Soviet voted to abolish the presidential office[3] and appointed Valery Shvetsov as prime minister.
As a result, two parallel governments existed for some time, but gradually most of Guslyannikov's ministers went to work with Shvetsov.