Yeltsin Prods Gorbachev on Added Parties

Maverick Soviet legislator Boris N. Yeltsin warned today that Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev must institute a multi-party system and other radical political and economic reforms or risk a fall from power.

Yeltsin, leader of radical reformists in the Communist nation, said the Soviet Union “now is crumbling under growing dissatisfaction of the people.”

“I cannot predict who will preside over the party’s next convention this fall unless Gorbachev implements sweeping reforms of the constitution and party principles,” he told a news conference at the Japan National Press Club.

He criticized Gorbachev for promoting perestroika, or restructuring, under outdated principles.

Also, he called on the Communist Party to convene a central committee meeting to revise the constitution, which now stipulates the party’s absolute hold on power, and to make comprehensive changes in party principles.

“If these steps are taken before it is too late, the current very difficult situation can be improved,” he said.