Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1990)
MPWQ F)l apCf Associated Press X ^1 W* w w ^ Ly JL 2» W* %r Edited by Brandon Loomis Supreme Soviet approves law allowing private, small factories MOSCOW - Beset with a sinking economy and rising discontent, So viet lawmakers made a drastic break with Communist orthodoxy Tuesday by voting to allow private citizens to own small factories and hire their own workers. Applause swept through the Krem lin chamber as the Supreme Soviet, by a 350-3 vote with 11 abstentions, passed the Property Law, which the official Tass news agency described as “the main plank’’ of President Mikhail Gorbachev’s campaign for economic reform. The law permits Soviets for the first time in nearly seven decades to privately possess “means of produc tion,’’ an approach at odds with clas sic Marxist thinking, which sees in private ownership the roots of the capitalist exploitation wiped out by the Russian Revolution 72 years ago. Deputy Premier Leonid Abalkin said the law, to go into effect July 1, will enable private citizens to own workshops, garages for automotive repairs, farm enterprises and other small-scale ventures to supplement the notoriously ineffective state-run economy. Also, subject to restrictions from legislatures in the 15 Soviet repub lics, the law permits one citizen to hire another for pay, a practice that currently is illegal and was a key target of the Russian revolutionaries. In the early 1920s, Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks temporarily re treated from their drive to implement communism and allowed private ownership of the means of production under the New Economic Policy, or NEP. The policy was ended under Lenin’s successor, Josef Stalin. Tuesday’s vote was hailed by supporters not as a tactical move backward but as a great advance toward a more just anti prosperous society. It again showed Gorbachev’s bent for pragmatism, even when it runs counter to policies pursued by his predeces sors for decades. Abalkin stressed to reporters that new appoaches were needed to wrench the country from its economic quag mire, which he said was deepening. “Either we speed up the reforms, or we ship things using military trans port,” he said. He revealed that Soviet economic performance had worsened in the past two months, with industrial produc tion slipping 1 percent. “There is a crisis of confidence, of confidence in the government,” he added. Although the Property Law con serves large economic monopolies for the state-run sector, it declares all forms of ownership juridically equal, including property owned by indi viduals, the government and collec tives, and says society gains by com petition among them. ‘ ‘This is an enormous step forw ard because it lays down the principle of pluralism in the forms of ownership and the basis of their equality and their protection from the government,” said progressive lawmaker Alexei Yablokov. In another sign of the new eco nomic thinking, a government-spon sored preamble offered by Abalkin proclaiming “socialist property” to be the foundation of the country offi cially named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics failed to pass the 542-seat legislature. “The preamble would turn the law into a propaganda slogan,” objected deputy Konstantin Lubcnchenko, a senior lecturer in Moscow State Uni versity’s law faculty. Despite its new stance on properly rights, the law continues to skirt the socialist aversion to private properly by referring instead to “the property ofc&|g$s.” “It’s unfortunate that there is no mention of private property, but the principle is there,” Yablokov said. Soviets long have been permitted to own cars, summer homes and other personal property, and the new law won’t change that. Abalkin said a key provision of the 23-page document orders state-owned factones and other businesses to allo cate a share of after-tax profits to workers. By providing them with a material stake in their enterprise’s profitabil ity, the law will presumably encour age Soviets to work harder, a problem Gorbachev’s leadership has said is crucial to raising the often abysmal rate of productivity. Abalkin cautioned that the law was “just a piece of paper” and by itself won’t bring about an economic mir acle. “We need to change the stere otypes of behavior, and peoples' psychology,” he said, apparently referring to the widespread Soviet hostility toward any form of private enterprise. Afghan troops and rebels attempt coup ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Soldiers led by the defense minister joined with Moslem guerrillas Tuesday to try to overthrow Afghanistan’s gov ernment, but were defeated by troops loyal to President Najib, Kabul radio reported. The official radio said the loyalists controlled Kabul, the capital, and an indefinite curfew was imposed at 7 p.m. In the Soviet Union, which spon sors the Najib government, the offi cial news agency Tass said: “The loyal troops have now mopped up the main pockets of resistance, leaving the situation in Kabul firmly con trolled by the government.” Western diplomats, guerrilla lead ers in Pakistan and the Soviet media reported heavy fighting and said Afghan air force planes had bombed Arg Palace, Najib’s headquarters in the heart of Kabul. Heavy artillery and tanks fired for several hours on the buildings of the Defense Ministry and the army’s main political directorate, Tass said. It also reported shelling of residential dis tricts, but said it abated after dusk. Kabul radio said the coup leader was Maj. Gen. Shah Nawaz Tanai. the defense minister, a hard-line Marxist linked to at least of two of the five previous coup attempts reported against Najib, who took office in 1986. He was joined by followers of the fundamentalist guerrilla leader Gul buddin Hekmatyar, the radio said. Najib said on slate telcvisionTues day night: “Some soiled elements today tried to carry out a conspiracy and provoke bloodshed, but the gov ernment forces have neutralized them. They have been suppressed.” Repeating a message broadcast earlier in the day by Interior Minister Aslam Watanjar, who was named to replace Tanai, Najib urged Afghans to help capture the general “dead or alive.” He said mutinous soldiers who surrendered by 4 a.m. today would be given amnesty. Ahmad Sarwar, Afghan ambassa dor in New Delhi, said he spoke with Najib by telephone Tuesday night and the president sounded “very strong and very confident.” “He said everything is under con trol,” said Sarwar, whose wife is a sister to Najib’s wife. He said Najib told him one group of Tanai’s follow ers had been killed and another cap tured. Najib did not say when the fight ing started or mention where he was when the telephone contact was made, Sarwar said. The ambassador said another source in Kabul, whom he would not identify, told him the de fense minister was in hiding. According to his source, Sarwar said, some of Tanai’s supporters bombed Kabul from the air, but no bombs fell within half a mile of Najib or Arg Palace. Tuesday’s attempted coup was the third said to involve Tanai and Hekmaytar, leader of the fundamen talist Hezb-i-Islami, or Party of Is lam. On Monday, 124 of those arrested went on trial in Kabul, including senior army officers. The other three were released. Gephardt says Soviets should have U.S. aid for successful reforms WASHINGTON - House Demo cratic Leader Richard Gephardt said Tuesday the United States should offer direct aid to the Soviet Union to ensure that its reforms succeed. “We should be investing in our own self-interest,” Gephardt said. “And stability, democracy and a market economy in the Soviet Union are in America’s strong self-inter est.” The proposal brought immedi ate criticism from some quarters, with a presidential spokesman saying the Soviets don’t want di rect aid. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-NJ., also said that the Soviets haven’t re Suested U.S. help and that, if they id, it would be wasted without economic reform. “Unless they reform the economy, it’s going down a rathole,” Bradley said. Others on Capitol Hill said that while they thought Gephardt’s proposal would spark a useful debate, the idea would fall on dis approving public ears. “If you’re going to start giving foreign aid to the hated commies of 70 years’ worth, you’ve got a real sales Job to do in the United States,” said Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo. Gephardt noted an appeal by Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel, in a Feb. 21 speech to Con gress, to help his country by help ing the Soviet Union continue on its reformist road. If Havel, who was imprisoned by the communists, can call for aid to the Soviets, “the least we can do is listen,” Gephardt said in a speech that also contained his harshest criticism to date of Bush’s policy toward Eastern Europe. He accused Bush of “a lack of leadership in this most crucial moment,” throwing billions of dollars into the military budget to defend against “communists who don’t want to be communists any more,” while ignoring their eco nomic needs. “It’s as though George Bush’s Pentagon budget were written by someone who hadn’t read a news paper in a year,” Gephardt said, drawing applause. Indeed, most of the administration’s budget was drafted last year, after the opening of the Berlin Wall but before many other dramatic developments in Eastern Europe. At the White House, spokes man Marlin Fitzwater called the charges “general old political stuff,” ana added, “The Soviet Union doesn’t want direct aid.” But others, while saying the Soviet Union should have to meet certain conditions before receiv ing U.S. help, acknowledged that events have moved so rapidly that aid is no longer out of the question. House Speaker Thomas Foley said heagreed with Gephardt “It’s a dramatically different circum stance from a few months ago,’’ Foley said, noting local elections that have taken place in the Soviet Union and the existence of com peting political parties. ‘‘Those changes are coming on very fast, and we have a stake in this country in supporting those changes,” Foley said. Gephardt, a 1988 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomi nation, proposed the idea of direct aid in a speech to the liberal Center for National Policy and acknowl edged that it would be difficult politically. “There are votes to be lost in taking a risk for peace, in appear ing insufficiently tough on the Soviets. And there are votes to be lost in calling on the American people to make some changes to adapt to the changing world,” the Missouri congressman said. Speaking to reporters later, Gepnardt added: “We live in a paradox. We now face the prospect of giving assis tance and support to people who’ vc oppressed people for 45 years.’’ But he said that during a trip to Eastern Europe two months ago ‘41 was embarrassed that we are not being as strong and as courageous as they are. Can’t we do something to help?” Specifically, Gephardt called for a “Food for Freedom’’ program to send U.S. food aid to the Soviets; the lifting of trade restrictions, including those on high-technol- j ogy exports, and guarantees for businesses that want to invest in the Soviet Union. “A stronger Soviet economy will facilitate the process of peace, ” said Gephardt4 4 How can the Soviets pull Red Army troops out of East ern Europe if they have no jobs and no homes for them to return to in Russia?” Direct U.S. aid is possible now because “the Cold War as we have known it for four decades is over,’ * Gephardt said. While the ity remains that Soviet Mikhail Gorbachev could be ousted or his reforms could fail, super power competition in arms and influence has changed in funda mental ways, he said. Nebraskan Editor Amy Edwards 472- 1766 Managing Editor Ryan Staavas Assoc News Editors Usa Donovan Eric Planner Editorial Page Editor Bob Nelson Wire Editor Brandon Loomis Copy Desk Editor Darcle Wiegert Publications Board Chairman Bill Vobejda 436-9993 Professional Adviser Don Walton 473- 7301 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) Is published by the UNL Publications Board. Ne braska Union 34, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE, Monday through Friday dunng the academic year; weekly during summer sessions Readers are encouraged to submit story Ideas and comments to the Dally Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a m and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Pam Hein, 472-2586 Subscription price is $45 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln. NE 68588 0448 Second class postage paid at Lincoln. NE ALL material copyright 1990 DAILY NEBRASKAN Kohl drops demands for Polish concessions BONN, West Germany - Chancel lor Helmut Kohl dropped his demand for Polish concessions on a border treaty and moved closer Tuesday to guaranteeing a united Germany would not claim land ceded to Poland after World War II. His government proposed a parlia mentary resolution, to be introduced Thursday, saying a united Germany should sign a treaty with Poland de claring that the right of Poles ‘ ‘to live in secure borders will not now or in the future be questioned by us Ger mans.” After a Cabinet meeting, at which ministers discussed disagreements over the chancellor’s handling of the bor der issue, Kohl said: ‘ ‘The things that burdened us are cleared away/’ Kohl had been criticized for his reluctance to state clearly, presuma bly in an effort to preserve the conser vative vote in December elections, that a reunified Germany would not question Poland’s western border. Foreign Minister Hans*Dietrich Gcnscher and his Free Democrats agreed with Poland that Kohl must clarify his position on the sensitive border issue. After a meeting Tuesday between Kohl and Gcnscher, their second in two days, Free Democrat official Torsten Wolfgramm said the chan cellor had abandoned his demand that Polish assurances accompany a bor der treaty. “It is completely clear,” he said. “A treaty would contain only the border question.” Rudolf Seilers, Kohl’s chief of staff, also indicated a treaty would concern only the border. Silesia and East Prussia were awarded to Poland and the Soviet Union, respectively, at the Potsdam conference of 1945. That led to the expulsion of 12 million Germans, and at least 2 million died in the process. Genscher was bom in what now is East Germany. The foreign minister has made it clear he and his party arc willing, in return for reunification, to give up all claims to the territory lost to Poland. Seilers said the parliamentary reso lution would recommend declarations of respect for Poland’s western bor der by the parliaments of both Ger manys, to be made after the East German elections March 18. President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union warned against any attempt by a reunited Germany to change the borders drawn at the end of World War II. “Naturally, the inviolability of postwar borders is the main issue in this respect,” he said in Moscow. “To use German reunification to reanimate revanchist plans would be to pursue an irresponsible policy fraught with very serious conse quences.” The Bonn newspaper Die Welt quoted Jaruzclski as saying, when asked whether he feared German reunification: “Yes and no. 1 worry as a Pole and European because of historical experiences. The position of a mighty power, a dominance, could lead to this position being somehow used at the cost of others.” On the other hand, Jaruzclski said, he believes “the Germans themselves, the big powers and all European peoples, especially the Poles, will do