Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152710
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Long
The Congress of People's Deputies gave Gorbachev, who ran uncontested, the five-year term he sought by a vote of 1,329 to 495, although there was surprisingly strong opposition to handing him expanded powers.
He needed approval by more than half the 2,245 deputies in the Wednesday balloting.
Many deputies had wanted the people to select the country's first chief executive in a direct vote. About 350 deputies abstained, mainly lawmakers who consider their republics to be independent nations.
When the vote was announced today, parliamentarians stood to applaud Gorbachev and he stood on the The necessity for a more radical perestroika policy is obvious, and it is for these purposes above all that I am going to use my powers as president Mikhail Gorbachev Newly elected Soviet president dais, hands folded in front of him, to acknowledge them. He took the oath of office and spoke to the Congress.
He said the Soviet Union was living through "difficult times" and that his reforms may initially cause "painful phenomena." Gorbachev promised to drastically cut the budget and attack inflation. He offered few details.
He did, however, say "the Cold War is over" even though that did not mean the end of "military confrontation" in the world. He said use of the Red Army outside the country "without the sanction of the Supreme Soviet or the Congress shall be ruled out."
Gorbachev noted "the changes of historical significance" across Eastern Europe where Communist regimes have been swept away and democratic governments are being formed.
He said "decisions are being prepared" for a meeting with President Bush in Washington later this year.
Gorbachev, whose election as president crowned a week of hard-fought political victories, also pledged not to follow decades of Soviet practice by taking more and more power.
"I want to underscore especially that I will use my presidential powers for really decisive advancement of perestroika processes on a democratic basis," he said. "I think it necessary to say this, because both before and during this Congress, apprehensions were voiced that the presidency might threaten to usurp power."
After Gorbachev's term, the country will conduct its first nationwide presidential campaign.
The new president will have wide powers to propose legislation, negotiate treaties, veto bills and decisions of the Council of Ministers, appoint a Cabinet, declare war if the country is attacked and, under certain conditions, impose presidential rule.
Since taking office five years ago, Gorbachev has repeatedly shaken up the Soviet political system and improved personal liberties, but the country is beset by worsening ethnic strife and economic paralysis.
Strong independence movements and bloody clashes between ethnic groups also threaten the union. Lithuania declared independence on Sunday, and Estonia, Latvia and Georgia have all moved in that direction.
Gorbachev has been pressed for more radical solutions and this year has led the Communist Party to renounce its lock on political power and accept some forms of private property.
Both those decisions were confirmed this week by the Congress.
He said the only solution to the continuing problems is to search for even more radical solutions. "The greatest barrier to change remains ossified thinking," he told the deputies in a firm, strong voice.
"We need to pass laws urgently aimed at de-monopolizing the economy," he said. The tax system must be reformed, and the balance of payments and interest rates must be regulated, he added.
"Above all state expenditures should be drastically cut in the near future to overcome budget deficit and counter inflationary processes," he said.
Gorbachev promised to be president of all of the country's more than 100 nationalities. He pledged to work to keep the Soviet Union together while pressing for a new agreement of union among the country's republics.
"Our country is going through a difficult time, but if we act together we will overcome these difficulties," Gorbachev said.
Gorbachev remains Communist Party chief, and despite a determined drive by deputies to make him choose between the presidency and party leadership, declared that the need to combine the two posts "now and in the near future is dictated by the interests of perestroika," his reform program.
Many of the powers Gorbachev attained as president previously had been vested in the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the country's collective executive body.
The expanded presidency was approved by the Congress on Tuesday along with a historic switch to a multiparty political system.
Both constitutional amendments are part of Gorbachev's long-term plan to transfer power from the Communist Party to the government. There is speculation that Gorbachev eventually may give up the party leadership and remain president.
by CNB