Soviet Election

I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop in reporting from the Soviet Union. Election results have been reported from Moscow, from the Baltic republics, from the Ukraine, and even from Siberia. When will we hear what happened in the tier of Muslim republics along the Soviet Union’s southern border? Even so knowledgeable an authority as Prof. Jerry Hough has been led to write that the “non-Russian nationality groups are individually too small to pose a serious threat” to Gorbachev’s control--temporarily forgetting that the population in those republics is expected to become the majority in the foreseeable future (“Soviet Vote Shows Resiliency, Not Fragility,” Op-Ed Page, March 31).

It has been reported that a citizens’ group in Kazakhstan is urging the end of nuclear testing because of the environmental damage incurred at and near the test site. While consumer anger is reported to be the main reasons for the defeat of some party officials, perhaps other issues will emerge as more is learned about the election.

JANET V. KELBLEY

Rancho Palos Verdes