Communists Frustrated by Kazakhstan : Old Political Machine Hard to Break Up, Pravda Story Reports

The Communist Party is meeting tough resistance in trying to break up the political machine in Kazakhstan, where nationalist riots followed last month’s removal of the local party boss, Pravda acknowledged today.

The party daily complained about what it called a history of nepotism, cronyism and corruption in Kazakhstan.

Its article marked the latest salvo against the power network of former party chief Dinmukhamed A. Kunaev.

“This kind of phenomenon has been harshly condemned at meetings of Communists, Communist youth activists and workers in connection with the nationalist manifestation that took place in Alma Ata recently,” Pravda said.

It referred to riots Dec. 17-18 after Kunaev, a Kazakh, was removed from his party post in the republic and was replaced with a Russian, Gennady V. Kolbin. Press reports said cars and a grocery store were burned and windows smashed.

Soviet officials blamed “hooligans” who incited students protesting Kunaev’s dismissal. An article in the weekly Literaturnaya Gazeta hinted that the disruptive elements were organized by supporters of the Kunaev network.

Pravda said that under Kunaev, “bribery and corruption flourished. . . . Nepotism, flattery and toadyism gave birth to autocratic leadership. All of this was used by the organizers of the disorders.”

Press reports have said calm was restored in Alma Ata, capital of the republic, but Soviet officials still forbid visits to the city by Western reporters.

The Pravda article criticized a series of officials who hung onto jobs despite corruption and incompetence, aided by “old connections” in the Kunaev administration.

It called this kind of cronyism “characteristic” of the republic.

“Much is being done in Kazakhstan, in the center and locally,” Pravda said. “Honest, bold and energetic people are coming into the leadership. . . .

“But, as the growing stack of mail at the Kazakh offices of Pravda shows, the reconstruction is moving slowly and is meeting calculated resistance from those who have compromised themselves but are holding fast with the help of old connections.”