RADICAL POLITICAL REFORM ON TAP AT CENTRAL COMMITTEE PLENUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 04292 E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR TAGS: PGOV PINR UR SUBJECT: RADICAL POLITICAL REFORM ON TAP AT CENTRAL COMMITTEE PLENUM ¶1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT. ¶2. WE ASSUME ADDRESSEES HAVE SEEN THE FBIS TEXT OF GORBACHEV'S MEETING WITH MINERS AT THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 2. THE TEXT WAS CARRIED IN THE CENTRAL PRESS FEBRUARY 5. EMBASSY PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS FOLLOWS. ¶2. A SEEMINGLY CONFIDENT GORBACHEV TOLD THE MINERS THAT THE PLENUM WOULD ADOPT A SET OF RADICAL POLITICAL REFORMS, HINTING THAT APPROVAL OF A MULTIPARTY SYSTEM AND DRASTIC REVISION, PERHAPS REPEAL, OF ARTICLE SIX OF THE USSR CONSTITUTION (ON THE PARTY'S PRIMACY) WERE IN THE OFFING. ALTHOUGH HE ARGUED THAT THE POSTS OF PARTY AND STATE LEADER SHOULD BE COMBINED DURING THE "TRANSITION PERIOD," HE SAID HE SUPPORTED THEIR ULTIMATE SEPARATION. THE PARTY CONGRESS WOULD DECIDE THE ISSUE, HE NOTED. HE CALLED FOR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS TO THE 28TH PARTY CONGRESS, PREDICTING THE PLENUM WOULD APPROVE AN EXCEPTION TO EXISTING PARTY RULES TO PERMIT THAT. GORBACHEV, HOWEVER, WAS SILENT ON WHETHER THE CONGRESS WOULD BE ADVANCED TO THIS SPRING, AS MANY PARTY MEMBERS HAVE DEMANDED, BUT NOTED THAT THE CONGRESS WAS NECESSARY TO "RENEW" BOTH THE POLITBURO AND THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. ¶3. AFTER A WEEK IN WHICH THE CENTRAL PRESS WAS FILLED WITH ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS OF INTELLECTUALS CALLING FOR ENHANCING THE POWER OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUPREME SOVIET (I.E., GORBACHEV),THE MEETING WITH MINERS WAS CLEARLY INTENDED TO DEMONSTRATE GORBACHEV HAS SUBSTANTIAL SUPPORT FROM THE WORKING CLASS AS WELL. AT THE MEETING, GORBACHEV EXTENDED AN INVITATION TO THE MINERS TO SEND A TEN-MAN DELEGATION TO THE PLENUM ITSELF AND SUGGESTED ITS MEMBERS MIGHT BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK. THAT TOO WAS AN OBVIOUS PLOY TO WIN FAVOR WITH WORKERS AND TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE WOULD BE HEARD AT THE PLENUM. OVERALL, MEDIA REPORTING OF THE PAST WEEK AND THE HUGE DEMONSTRATION IN MOSCOW IN SUPPORT OF RADICAL POLITICAL REFORM FEBRUARY 4 (REPORTED SEPTEL) HAVE CREATED THAT IMPRESSION THAT GORBACHEV IS IN CHARGE AND PREPARED TO PUSH THROUGH A SET OF RADICAL PARTY REFORMS THAT WOULD HAVE SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO. LAST RUMORS / -------------- ¶4. ACCORDING TO A DEPARTMENT HEAD AT THE INSTITUTE OF STATE AND LAW (STRICTLY PROTECT),TWO KEY ITEMS ON THE PLENUM AGENDA WILL BE THE TIMING OF THE 28TH PARTY CONGRESS AND THE METHOD OF SELECTING DELEGATES TO IT. OUR SOURCE SAID THE PLENUM WOULD DECIDE TO ADVANCE THE DATE OF THE CONGRESS FROM OCTOBER TO PERHAPS AS EARLY AS APRIL OR MAY. HE BELIEVED THE PLENUM WOULD APPROVE DIRECT SELECTION OF DELEGATES BY THE PARTY RANK AND FILE. ¶5. ACCORDING TO A BRITISH DIPLOMAT CITING A CONVERSATION LATE LAST WEEK WITH ARKADIY VAKSBERG (PROTECT),A POLITICAL COMMENTATOR FOR "LITERATURNAYA GAZETA," LIGACHEV AND VOROTNIKOV WILL RETIRE AT THE PLENUM AND CENTRAL COMMITTEE SECRETARY MANAYENKOV WILL BE ELEVATED TO THE POLITBURO. ¶6. LENINGRAD MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. MATLOCK