HUNTINGTON BEACH : Students Get Lesson in Russian Politics

A member of the Russian national legislature on Friday told students at Golden West College that Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev erred in believing that he could reform the Communist Party.

Alexandre P. Vladislavlev, a prominent Russian politician and economic expert, said he supports Gorbachev but believes that the Soviet leader was mistaken in thinking the Communist Party could be changed.

“The most serious mistake Gorbachev made was in believing he could change the Communist Party,” Vladislavlev said. Right-wingers within the Communist Party attempted unsuccessfully last month to depose Gorbachev and seize control of the Soviet government.

The failure of that coup led to the dismantling of the Communist Party and the dismembering of the Soviet Union itself. Vladislavlev told the community college students that the more democratic government now emerging signals a “new era of cooperation” between his nation and the United States.

Vladislavlev called the Soviet Communist Party nothing more than a “dictatorship.” He said it imposed stifling living and economic conditions on the Russian people and added that the nation must now build a market economy and a new way of life.

“Everything should be changed, and medical services especially,” he said.

Vladislavlev, who holds a doctorate in engineering, is co-chairman of the Scientific and Industrial Group of the Congress of the Soviet Union. He explained that the national governmental body still exists and functions, even though many of the former united republics in the Soviet Union have declared their independence.

He believes the newly evolving structure in his country will have “an economic agreement between all republics, even the Baltic republics. . . . I think there will be an economic arrangement joining all 15 republics (of the former Soviet Union).”

The Russian official toured Golden West and other Coast Community College District facilities as part of his U.S. visit to several community college systems. He came to Orange County after meeting earlier this week with members of Congress and State Department officials in Washington.

About 300 Golden West College students attended a morning convocation and posed a number of free-wheeling questions to the Russian official. Later Friday morning, Vladislavlev also held a one-hour press conference at Coast Community College District headquarters in Costa Mesa.

The tall, heavy-set Vladislavlev leavened his talk to the students with moments of wry humor.

For instance, after Vladislavlev had described the upheaval in his nation during the last two months, one student asked him: “What are you trying to accomplish now in the United States?”

A small smile on his face, Vladislavlev responded: “(I’m trying to) relax. I’m on vacation here. . . . “

The audience erupted with laughter.