Word: lithuanians
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...large part of his reason for opposing the removal from the Soviet constitution of Article 6, which gives the Communist Party a monopoly on political power. A confrontation looms with the Baltic states over their intention to cancel Article 6 and declare their own communist parties independent. The Lithuanian party voted last week to split from Moscow and declared its intention to create "an independent, democratic Lithuanian state." One-party rule, Gorbachev says, is vital to the success of perestroika. He opposed debate on the issue at the opening of the People's Congress in mid-December, saying it would...
...Gorbachev's tacit blessing, East Germany and Czechoslovakia have joined Hungary and Poland in abolishing the Communist Party's constitutional monopoly on power. Nonetheless, the Soviet leader has always insisted that the party must retain its pre-eminence in his country if perestroika is to succeed. Last week the Lithuanian legislature defied Gorbachev's wishes and legalized rival political parties, setting the stage for other Soviet republics to do the same. This week radical delegates are expected to propose a debate in the Congress of People's Deputies on whether to delete Article 6 of the national constitution, which enshrines...
...many unthinkable ideas floated in perestroika's wake, this reform ranked among the most wildly farfetched. But last week the prospect of abolishing the party's "leading role" in the U.S.S.R. gained momentum when the Lithuanian legislature voted 243 to 1 in favor of a constitutional amendment legalizing rivals to the Communist Party. While Lithuania thus became the first Soviet republic to do so, in neighboring Estonia the Communist Party Central Committee approved a similar proposal that should easily pass the legislature next month. In Armenia angry crowds surrounded parliament after legislators rejected a multiparty system. This week Andrei Sakharov...
...same time, Lithuania's Communist Party is on the brink of cutting its ties to the national organization. Fearing defeat in elections scheduled for February, the Lithuanian leadership is desperate to redeem the local party in the voters' eyes, despite warnings from Moscow that perestroika will disintegrate under the pressure of their extreme separatism. If the Lithuanians succeed in severing their links, they will set a provocative precedent that is sure to be repeated in other republics...
...revision of borders was unacceptable. Violence would be met with the "full force of Soviet laws," the platform warned. Yet all this has been said before, and seems unlikely to end the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh or cool the breakaway passions in the Baltic states. On Friday the Lithuanian Communist Party defied Moscow with a declaration that it is "seeking independence in the course of perestroika...