Soviets Fire Two More Brezhnev-Era Leaders

The Communist Party Central Committee today fired two Brezhnev-era holdovers, clearing the way for more reform-minded supporters of leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

The two-day meeting of the country’s top party members also approved in principle Gorbachev’s call for electoral reform through secret ballots and multi-candidate elections, terming them “one of the key areas of the democratization of social life.”

As expected, the party fired Politburo member Dinmukamed A. Kunayev, 75, whose December removal as party boss of the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan triggered two days of bloody rioting. His removal reduced the Politburo to 11 members.

The plenum also fired committee secretary Mikhail V. Zimyanin, 72, in moves bringing Gorbachev a step closer to wiping out the final remnants of old-timers he accused of resisting his reforms.

Spared dismissal was another Brezhnev-era holdover, Ukrainian Party boss Vladimir V. Shcherbitsky, who had been under a storm of criticism in recent weeks in the official press. Diplomats had expected him to be purged.

Kunayev and Shcherbitsky sat on the ruling 12-man Politburo since the time of Leonid I. Brezhnev, whose 18-year rule has been harshly criticized since Gorbachev became Soviet leader almost two years ago.

The final resolution of the plenum staunchly defended the dismissals.

“The infusion of fresh blood into the leadership and the replacing of those leaders who have proved unable to cope with the new task and compromised themselves by improper conduct have become an indispensable part of, and a highly important factor for, the reorganization efforts,” the resolution said.

The plenum also said the Soviet Union needed to continue building up both its economy and its defense forces as a major priority to counteract the “striving hawklike forces of the U.S.” and achieve military parity.

The plenum also promoted chief propagandist Alexander Yakovlev, 63, as a non-voting member of the Politburo. Responsible for pushing Gorbachev’s reformist image at home and abroad, he is a former ambassador to Canada and was once an exchange student at Columbia University in New York.