Pravda Criticizes Lagging Officials

The Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda issued a new attack on bureaucracy Friday and said some party organizations are failing to keep pace with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s restructuring drive.

In the latest indication that Gorbachev’s policies are encountering opposition at certain levels, a front-page editorial said “far from all” party organizations are coping with new demands placed on them.

“Some have clearly failed to keep pace with perestroika (restructuring) and with the mood of the people, and some are simply hanging back instead of being in the vanguard,” Pravda declared, warning that this will not be tolerated.

The editorial said that severe problems remain with the bureaucracy, which it described as “today’s worst and most dangerous enemy.”

Similar sentiments were expressed earlier this month by Gorbachev, who told Leningrad workers that there is a need to clear away opponents of perestroika . He vowed to introduce sweeping cuts in the Soviet bureaucracy.

“Two and a half years is a long enough time,” he declared, referring to the period since March, 1985, when he took over the Soviet leadership.

“We were tolerant and democratic. But those who continue to wait must go. I mean the people who head work collectives, districts and cities,” Gorbachev added.

Soviet analysts say a major problem is posed by those who pay lip service to perestroika , publicly applauding the new policies while doing nothing to implement them.

Pravda accused some party members of “Communist conceit,” a term coined by V.I. Lenin in the 1920s to describe pompous and status-conscious officials.

“Today, like 70 years ago, time demands from party organizations a strong political will, iron discipline, initiative (and) creative and bold practical actions,” the editorial declared.

The official news agency Tass reported Friday that all party committees had been instructed to hold meetings to eradicate the problem of lagging behind in perestroika and “to name those who are holding it back.”

It said the party’s Central Committee had called for the meetings to be held at republic and provincial levels by the end of the year and for them to “concentrate on strengthening the struggle against bureaucracy.”