Gorbachev’s Economic Plan OKd by Parliament

The Soviet Parliament today gave preliminary approval to Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s economic reform plan, after he accused his key rival of shirking responsibility for the transformation to a free-market system.

The Supreme Soviet voted 356 to 12 in favor of the plan, with 26 abstentions, and began debating possible amendments.

President Gorbachev said his plan, a compromise forged from a series of competing proposals, is “the only rational course of action.”

He acknowledged that the huge Russian Federation wants faster, more radical reforms, but said its leaders, including Boris N. Yeltsin, are afraid of the social and economic disruptions they would cause.

In a 50-minute speech, Gorbachev also dismissed concerns that the switch from a centrally planned system is a retreat from socialism.

Yeltsin, president of the Russian Federation, has lambasted Gorbachev’s program as a “catastrophe” that is “doomed to fail” within months after touching off inflation and unemployment.

He said Russia, the largest and richest of the 15 Soviet republics, may proceed with its own 500-day plan as early as Nov. 1.

Gorbachev said he shares many of Yeltsin’s concerns about the country’s worsening economy and his fears of inflation. But he noted that the Russian Parliament recently raised the wholesale prices of meat, and said this touched off a wave of inflation.

“Comrade Yeltsin’s assertions are strange, to say the least,” Gorbachev said. “I’m under the impression that the Russian leadership is afraid of difficulties and wants to pass on responsibility for possible difficulties and consequences . . . onto central organs of power.”

Gorbachev appealed to the Soviet people and lawmakers at all levels of government to approve his plan, stressing, “We cannot delay any longer.”

Leaders of the republics were invited to join the 542 national lawmakers in listening to Gorbachev’s speech in the Supreme Soviet’s beige marble hall, but Yeltsin was not present. The speech received only five seconds of lukewarm applause.

Prime Minister Nikolai I. Ryzhkov, who drafted a conservative reform plan, told the legislature that implementing tough changes “would not bring glory” to those who carry out the orders.

He called on opponents to “discard political and other ambitions” and warned, “If changes turn into chaos, violence becomes very possible.”