In a rare interview published in the Izvestia daily today, Yeltsin shrugged off rumours that he intended to cling to office saying ``for the first time in Russia's history, power will be transferred not in a revolutionary way but in a constitutional and civilized way.''

Yeltsin, 68, who has had to face persistent criticism in recent years for clinging to power despite recurring health problems, said his main concern in the immediate future was to ensure ``dignified'' polls that throw up a capable successor.

``The main task is, of course, the polls -- parliamentary and presidential -- they must be carried out with dignity. Afterward, a new political authority will appear, one that is young, energetic and with new ideas. Itshould appear through honest and open campaign battles. To such authorities I will hand over my powers with, as they say, a light heart.''

The Russian leader, who rarely gives interviews due to ill-health, told the liberal daily on July 3 coinciding with his third year in office, said he had a faint idea about who his successor should be, but refused to take any names. ``As soon as I take his name, he won't be allowed to live in peace,'' he added.

REUTERS ADDS: Meanwhile, Russia's constitutional court, in a decision likely to satisfy the communist-led opposition, ruled today that a prime minister has no right to dissolve parliament while standing in temporarily for the president.

The state Duma lower house, the powerbase of the opposition communists, had asked the court to clarify the prime minister's powers in such a situation because of the uncertainty over Yeltsin's health and the vagueness of the constitution.

Under Russia's post-Soviet constitution, if the president resigns, dies, isincapacitated by illness or is impeached, the prime minister takes over his duties pending a new presidential election within three months.

The court said in a statement, a copy of which was faxed to Reuters, that a prime minister serving temporarily as president would also be barred from proposing amendments to the constitution.

It said the president could regain his powers in full if he handed them only temporarily to the prime minister.