Reform Laws OKd by Soviet Parliament

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Thursday won nearly unanimous approval from the Supreme Soviet, the national Parliament, for the new political structure that he is confident will turn the Soviet Union into a modern, socialist democracy.

Although five deputies voted against the constitutional amendments and 27 others abstained, protesting what they saw as a further concentration of power in the central government, the legislation won the support of more than 1,300 members of the Supreme Soviet.

A new electoral law, encouraging contested, multi-candidate elections, then was passed unanimously.

The votes, although expected, gave Gorbachev the mandate he said he wanted for accelerating and broadening his program of political, economic and social reforms.

Gorbachev declared that the action “will open a new period in the development of the Soviet state on the basis of democratization and popular self-government.”

Within minutes, parliamentary elections were scheduled for late March in order to choose the new tricameral Congress of People’s Deputies, which will, in turn, elect a new version of the Supreme Soviet, a smaller permanent legislature with two houses.

Even before it takes office, the new Supreme Soviet faces a legislative program that totals nearly 100 major new laws, which are being drafted to replace the various Communist Party decisions and policies that have served as law until now.

The reforms also create a strong executive presidency, whose increased powers Gorbachev promised to use on behalf of perestroika, as his reform program is known.

The establishment of a new government structure also is part of Gorbachev’s effort to pull the ruling Communist Party out of day-to-day administration of the government, the economy and myriad cultural and social organizations so that the party again becomes primarily a political force.

Reform Is Ripe

Through contested elections and secret ballots, the party is offering to compete in the political arena and, consequently, to share power. Such competition and diversity, it believes, will strengthen the Soviet Union in ways that maintaining its long monopoly on power never could.

“The overall result of the session in this sense is unequivocal--reform is ripe and must be carried out without delay,” Gorbachev said in a final address to a special session of the Supreme Soviet.

For Gorbachev, it was a moment of triumph as the political system of one of the world’s most powerful nations was restructured according to his ideas, and it promised future victories as the impact of those changes reached out through the country.

Yet it was also a moment of humility as Gorbachev acknowledged the power of democracy, which had forced him to modify many of the provisions in both the constitutional amendments and the election law to reflect popular sentiments.

“All of us are now learning our lessons,” he told deputies before the vote. “All of us are in a school of democracy, and we should be good pupils in that school.”

The strongest protests had come from the three Baltic republics--Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania--that saw even their limited autonomy taken away and, to a lesser extent, from the southern Soviet republics of Armenia and Georgia. The negative votes and abstentions appeared to come from the Baltic delegations.

Broad Support Assumed

Much of the controversy over the reforms, Gorbachev acknowledged, stemmed from the party leadership’s attempts to push the changes through on the assumption that they would command broad and automatic support and needed a minimum of discussion.

“Much of what is viewed today as acceptable, and even necessary, for advancing the cause of democratization in the country raised questions as the first stage because we had not bothered to explain it properly,” he said.

And, he added, “The center was influenced by its old habit: ‘It doesn’t matter, everything will pass as it is; they will get used to it.’ ”

The legislation was being rewritten up until the final vote to meet the objections of its critics, and Gorbachev’s own leadership was questioned, particularly by those objecting to the vast powers given to the new president.

But Gorbachev saw benefit in the “bruises” he said he suffered in this process. For the first time in memory, he noted, major legislation had been vigorously debated by the Supreme Soviet and compromises reached. The invigoration of the political process was nearly as important, he suggested, as the legislation itself.

No Question on Outcome

Yet there was no question of the final outcome. Gorbachev already had won the tough battles--those within the Communist Party’s policy-making Central Committee--and the protests at the Supreme Soviet never threatened the overwhelming support he could command.

Indeed, the only protests were largely symbolic. First there was a vote on a Latvian amendment to the constitutional changes that would give each republic the right to veto legislation that seriously affected its interests. That was rejected, 1,353 to 23.

In addition, there was the scattering of “no” votes and abstentions on the constitutional package.

Gorbachev nevertheless sought to reassure the country’s constituent republics, which have sought greater autonomy, that the next stage of the political reforms would address the relationship between them and the center, strengthening their authority and making the Soviet Union more of a federal system.

“We will emerge from this session,” he said, “with the stronger conviction that one should not spare any effort so that in our common home, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, all nations and nationalities feel at ease, have an opportunity to develop freely their national traditions, language and culture and strengthen cooperation in all spheres of life. . . .”

He continued: “All peoples in our country should be confident that the problems that worry them will be handled in a fraternal way, on the basis of respect and mutual understanding.”

The Communist Party has planned a special meeting of the Central Committee for June to discuss both relations between the central government and the republics and inter-ethnic issues, which together are among the most critical themes facing the Soviet leadership.

“We should get rid of the suspicion we have of one another,” Gorbachev said. “Debates and meetings with comrades and representatives of various republics leave a feeling that mutual suspicion does exist. In the republics, they suspect there are some ‘Kremlin secrets’ with regard to them, while in the center they often see any raising of problems as something improper.”