Gorbachev Still in Charge

The Soviet Union may be heading for a second October Revolution, this one little more than a year from now when a Communist Party Congress convenes ahead of schedule for the purpose of packing the important Central Committee with people who are more in step with Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s reformist plans.

Moving up the date of the next congress by some months was approved at this week’s Central Committee meeting. Also approved was a shake-up on the party’s ruling Politburo that should work to further consolidate Gorbachev’s power. Steadily and surely, the opponents of change, along with inept and unpopular regional leaders, are being pensioned off in favor of Gorbachev loyalists. The October, 1990, party congress is expected to advance or even complete the consolidation process by providing Gorbachev with the instrument he needs under party rules to fill vacancies on the Central Committee with his supporters.

For all the talk of powerful opposition to his reform efforts and even widely reported rumors of plots to oust him from office, Gorbachev thus seems to have emerged stronger and more in charge than ever before. He has again shown himself to be a masterful politician, capable of deftly maneuvering within the upper ranks of the party and skillful in exploiting the public’s obvious dislike for old-line party hacks. All this should aid the prospects for economic and political change. The downside could be that in reshaping the party and government leadership in his own image, Gorbachev will lose what until now had been abuilt-in excuse for not making more effective progress more quickly.

Nowhere has the need for reform been made more compellingly evident than in the challenges to central authority and national stability embodied in the waves of nationalism and ethnic strife sweeping across much of the country. Gorbachev’s response, endorsed this week by the Central Committee, has been to promise more vigorous actions to decentralize the economy and otherwise allow for more regional autonomy. He has also spoken of increased respect for ethnic diversity, including the use of local languages for everything except official business.

At the same time he has clearly underscored the limits of what is permissible. Ethnic pride is one thing, Gorbachev has said, nationalism that threatens the cohesiveness of the state is another matter. He has warned bluntly that separatist movements won’t be tolerated and that the Communist Party won’t be split into regional wings. All nationalities will have equal rights, he has pledged, but every power the state possesses will be used to keep the Soviet federation intact and guarantee party unity.

What Gorbachev is saying in so many words is that he didn’t become leader of the Soviet empire in order to preside over its dissolution. This solemn intention may not impress those who now are pressing for separatism and independence. Gorbachev’s great challenge is to hold the country together even as he struggles to achieve economic and political reforms. On both counts, it is certain he will continue to be sorely tested.