Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!auvm!UMKCVAX1!CARBUCKLE From: CARBUCKLE@UMKCVAX1.BITNET (Valentine M. Smith) Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics Subject: ussr(#32) Message-ID: <90038.1743.CARBUCKLE@UMKCVAX1> Date: 7 Feb 90 17:43:00 GMT Sender: Forum for the Discussion of Politics Reply-To: Forum for the Discussion of Politics Lines: 106 Approved: NETNEWS@AUVM Gateway Sorry I missed you all yesterday, have been ill, syill am, but am tottering about today. USSR- The media is now calling the changes in the Soviet Union "The Second Russian Revolution", especially after the Central Committee adopted the Gorbachev changes to the party by a vote of 249-1, with one abstention. Interestingly, the one vote cast against the program was that of Boris Yeltsin, the former CP chief in Moscow, on the grounds that the changes don't go far enough! This morning at 0930, Yacolev(?) was supposed to hold a press conference to explain what actually got decided; as I was at school when this happened, I'll have to report on this later today. One thing that has apparently come out of this immediately is that the Party Congress originally scheduled for October now may happen as early as June, maybe July. Another is that apparently the post of General Secretary of the party is to be changed to a chairman and two deputies, and their role diminished in the future. A third change will be a "democratically elected" President, instead of the Supreme Soviet ratifying the choice of the party for President. One of the ideologists of the Central Committee, Shislan, suggested yesterday that a multi-party system already exists in the USSR, what this CC plenum is doing is accepting reality. A US Soviet expert, Olcutt, suggested this morning that in the Baltics, such a system already legally exists. Gerasimov said yesterday that "if you can't beat them, join them," in reference to the demands for a multi-party system. Shislin also said yesterday that the "speed of the changes has been overwhelming." In Volgograd, Smolensk, and Sverdlov, the party officials have quit en masse, or been removed by Moscow. One other change coming from the CC meeting is the formal removal of Article 6 of the Soviet constitution, which was what empowered the CP as the sole legal party in the USSR. Another apparently obvious matter will be massive changes in who is on the Central Committee. 61% of the members are past retirement age, and several were put on the CC by Stalin, who's been dead 37 years. Several people said that the party leadership needs "new young blood." I suspect they'll get such real soon. The Baltics- A Latvian leader of the Popular Front there, Janis Jurken, said yesterday that "Communism has polluted the economy of the nation, and totaliarianism has polluted the political identity of the nation." He also pointed out that the CP was losing members at a ferocious rate in Latvia. He is talking about a federation of the Balts, somewhat similar to Havel's idea about the Poles, Hungarians and Czechs. Earlier in these posts, i suggested that the whole of the Soviet Union needed to be in such a federation, with no "first among equals" like the system has operated in the past, actually the USSR has been first without equals. Albania- In answer to Theodore Manos question about Albania. 6 weeks ago, there were some demonstrations in the capital, quickly squelched by the military. No word since about their activities, nor any reaction to the Albanian disturbances in Yugoslavia. Nor has the Albanian gov't reacted to the Kosovo demands that those people be reunited with Albania. Yugoslavia- A riot in a small Kosovo town yesterday because a drunken Serbian policeman accosted a pregnant woman, killed a cow, and shot two teenagers in the legs. East Germany- The ruling council expanded its membership the day before yesterday by 8 members, now 17 of 36 members are CP people. They banned the right wing party of West Germany from participation in East German politics. Romania- A bitterly sad residue of the Ceausescu days is the report that 1 of three sick babies in Romania has AIDS, from using unchecked blood, and mutiple syringe use. Czechoslavkia- Elections are to occur in June. The US lifted yesterday some trade restrictions to the Czechs, who in turn agreed to cut back weapons making and exporting to places like Libya and Nicaragua. Talks are to begin today about removing Soviet troops as soon as possible, especially after a huge demonstration in Prague yesterday where the demonstrators kept saying, "Ivan must go!" Does this sound vaguely familiar? Apparently, earlier today, the Soviets "illegally" blew up a huge ammunition dump somewhere in Czech territory, started a bunch of forest fires. Why, or any other info, not yet available. Bulgaria- Yesterday, the Bulgarians abolished the secret police. Lastly, Secretary of State Baker of the US warned today that the Soviets could not go backward and expect US aid. "Legitimacy, not force, is the only way to ensure tranquility," he said. He also assured European nations that American troops would stay as long as the european powers wished. He is to meet with Gorbachev the day after tomorrow, Schverdnadze tomorrow. The Revolution hurtles onward, the changes have just begun, the next year promises to be highly intriguing vis-a-vis Soviet affairs.