Gorbachev Rebuffs Effort to Name Yeltsin to Key Post

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, facing his first political rebellion in the Soviet Union’s new national legislature, rebuffed attempts Wednesday to name Boris N. Yeltsin, the radical populist politician, as the head of the government’s principal watchdog body.

After more than an hour of very sharp debate, Gorbachev secured the Supreme Soviet’s confirmation of Gennady V. Kolbin, the Communist Party leader in the Soviet Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, as chairman of the People’s Control Commission, which oversees the government’s activities and audits its spending.

But, for Gorbachev, it was an unexpected challenge in which the central issue was not the popularity of Yeltsin nor the qualifications of Kolbin but what kind of legislature the new Supreme Soviet will be and what kind of leadership Gorbachev will exercise as its chairman.

Could Prove More Difficult

Gorbachev will be able to have his way--that was never seriously in doubt--but it could prove difficult and more costly as the deputies insist on the independence of the new 542-seat legislature, which was elected from within the larger assembly, the Congress of People’s Deputies.

Speaker after speaker rose to say, “I’m for Yeltsin,” and the clamor did not diminish even after Gorbachev’s announcement that the popular Siberian politician, former leader of the Moscow party organization and deputy minister of the building industry, would--by agreement--instead head a legislative commission overseeing capital construction.

Some disputed Kolbin’s qualifications for the watchdog role, although he has been appointed three times in the last two decades to purge party organizations after the dismissal of leaders accused of corruption.

“Where is the democratic alternative?” one young deputy asked Gorbachev. “To prove that this is a real democracy, please offer us an alternative candidate.

‘Same Pattern Appears’

“Consistently, the same pattern appears--we are approving your appointees, but not making the selections ourselves,” he added. “In fact, Comrade Gorbachev, we are just voting in people you selected and nominated.”

Gorbachev, irritated by this and other criticism, replied bluntly: “Under the constitution, you can accept or reject my choice. Put me at the starting point, and I will think again. But first you must do that.”

In a plea to “trust the Supreme Soviet, trust the people,” half a dozen deputies urged Gorbachev to include both Kolbin and Yeltsin on a secret ballot.

Even those who expressed their uneasiness with Yeltsin’s populist style, particularly the large following he has built in Moscow and other major cities, said that he should be on the ballot simply so that people would not contend that the Establishment is trying methodically to isolate him and exclude him from real power.

Conservative Support

Strong support came, however, from Central Asian deputies who form the Congress’ conservative wing and who have shown themselves in the Supreme Soviet’s first meetings to be the group most responsive to Gorbachev.

Yeltsin, called upon to save the situation, lumbered up to the rostrum at Gorbachev’s request. Describing himself and Kolbin as “both comrades and friends,” Yeltsin said: “I consider that he is a person who, from a political viewpoint and from his experience, his businesslike qualities, his adherence to principle and his attitude to people, is completely suitable to be entrusted with this post.”

Calling for a vote, Gorbachev tallied 34 votes against Kolbin, who was the only nominee, 53 recorded abstentions and the rest were presumed in favor of his nomination.

But probably half of the 542 members, all but about 30 of whom were present, appeared to observers in the press balcony and viewers on television not to have taken part in the vote.

Gorbachev, attempting to curtail the free-wheeling debate in the Congress, now a week beyond its original schedule, later won approval for a timetable that would bring the session to a conclusion Friday, with a further session of the Supreme Soviet on Saturday.

With an important four-day trip to West Germany starting Monday, Gorbachev clearly hopes that this will prove sufficient excuse to bring the two bodies back under at least the restraints of time.

In the first analysis of the composition of the Supreme Soviet, which will be the country’s permanent legislature but still subject to the Congress of People’s Deputies, the weekly Moscow News reported on Wednesday that 370 of the members in its two chambers were government or party officials, that 99 were blue- or white-collar workers or farmers, 68 were highly qualified specialists, such as scientists, and five were pensioners.

Comparing the composition with the last Supreme Soviet, which was effectively appointed by the Communist Party rather than elected, the newspaper found that the role of the leadership and top and middle echelons of officials has declined--as has that of the workers and farmers. But the share of seats held by lower-level officials and the intelligentsia has increased.