NEW SOVIET RULER

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26984, 9 March 1953, Page 7

NEW SOVIET RULER

“Power Struggle Diverted” (NZ - Press Asiociatlon—Copyright) {ReC ' , 10 new YORK, March 7. cessortosX*!^!^ Malenkov as suethe Soviet Union h that dle ? tr } for power inside time being d a P parentl V been diverted for the on Russian ,r- . qulllbnam among the leading personages of the Soviet Union would prove stable remained to be seen. nearlv ha C omDle^e al fr^H V Wo, l ld a f. tually have the complete or dubious s?id m A° f tlon that Stalin had msmlSs f ii, r As F,rst Deputy-Premiers and full Mokrtov T f m r n,niSt i Party ’ s Presidium, Messrs V. M. Molotov, L. Bena, General N. Bulganin and Mr Lazar Kaganovich were m strategic positions to influence policy. He said Soviet rule in the near future might well be that ® f a se ™ t nl.lv tO n rate ’ Malenkov was recognised as. chief, but only on condition that he gave full weight to the rival's*" 8 “° f hiS c,osest coliea Sues and still potential

The first impression in the West is that Mr Malenkov has gathered together a strong and able government team without the struggle for power so often predicted, and that he is likely at first to follow the Stalin line, says Don Dallas, formerly a Reuter correspondent in Moscow.

Many observers believe the government changes show that Mr Malenkov m ° de rate even a conservative, Bolshevik. He has streamlined the unwieldy apex of the Communist Party a P d he has also Streamlined the State structure. Mr Malenkov thus ’ \ e n e T r r Sed th ~ P° llc y made at the last All-Union Congress of the party in Moscow last October, which was attended and addressed by Stalin. At that congress, the party’s top leadership was increased from some 12 members of the old Politburo to 36, including 11 alternate non-voting niembers. The new Presidium numbers 10 full members and four alternate members, putting it back to a more manageable size. Of the 10, all belonged to the old Politburo with the exception of Mr M. G. Pervukhin, the country’s great economist, and Mr Maxim Saburov, the State planning chief. Reverting to “Old Guard” Obviously Mr Malenkov is reverting ■N? “ le , *’°ki guard” to carry Russia • through the difficult days ahead, says Dallas. In the Presidium, at least, he ; has thrown overboard all the younger ; leaders elected at last October’s party ; congress. Perhaps he believes they have not had sufficient experience of the complex State party machinery to be entrusted with top direction at this time. Perhaps he prefers to be the youngest in the Cabinet. John Hightower, the Associated Press diplomatic correspondent, said Mr Malenkov had emerged with stunning speed as the potential, if not fully-established, strong man of the Soviet Communist empire* His appointment as chairman of the Council of Ministers meant that he had grasped one of the real controls of power in the Kremlir. and probably meant he had his hand on the other as well. The position in which Stalin exercised his .dictatorial powers for many years was that of Secretary-General of the Communist Party. It was generally assumed in Washington that Mr Malenkov was already in control of the party, but the official announcement from Moscow did not in itself settle the question of party control. Another thing which only time’ could resolve was the extent of the popular following that Mr Malenkov would : be able to command in the wake of the virtual deification of Stalin and his domination of the Soviet and satellite leaderships. A related question was whether Mr Malenkov would be . able to keep the satellites in line as : effectively as Stalin had done. Speculation in U.S. Newspapers in the United States continued to speculate today on the change that might come about in the : Soviet Union as the result of Stalin’s : death and the announcement that Mr Malenkov would succeed him. i The “New York Times” said the : question of political succession in Rus- < sia had been answered with haste that 1 testified to Russia’s anxiety to pre- < sent a united front to the outside world and to preclude the possibility of internal conflict. Stalin’s power had rested not sc j much on his Premiership as on his control of the Communist Party 1 machine, and “here Mr Malenkov ap- ! pears to have emerged on top.” ; The paper added: “This nasty re- . organisation of government and party ; cannot, however, entirely eliminate ; the danger of inter-party strife that ! must haunt the Kremlin in view of 1 Stalin’s record. For one thing, Mr . Malenkov cannot take over from his J mentor and predecessor in the aura , of demi-god who had established his 1 authority beyond the possibility of ( challenge.” •

PRESS COMMENT IN BRITAIN

(Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, March 8. The “Manchester Guardian,” in a leading article, said most of Russia’s new rulers did not lead the revolution and remarkably few had seen the outside world. It suggested that such isolation might affect the minds and acts of Russian rulers. “Stringent turning on oneself can lead to a sudden, perhaps miscalculated, lunge toward the outside world.”

The paper warned that Western talk about seizing the opportunity of Stalin’s death was idle, perhaps dangerous; but changes might come without a conscious impulse from Moscow or the West. “The Times” said: “Until a new autocrat emerges—and the appointment of Mr Malenkov does not necessarily designate him—the voice of authority is still the voice of Stalin. The struggle for succession will be cruel and cunning, but probably will be conducted in silence. It may be protracted. No doubt indications of new purges and the branding of new heresies in the last few months, when Stalin’s heart was already failing, were one manoeuvre in the campaign, but no-one knows what stage the campaign has reached or what battles have still to be fought. For the moment, the imnulse of the Soviet ruling class is to close its ranks in the crisis.” Diplomatic quarters in Britain showed some surprise when they learned Mr Molotov was replacing Mr Vyshinsky as Foreign Minister. This was mainly because Mr Molotov, who has already been Foreign Minister, of late had been specialising in Far Eastern affairs in a post considered to have higher diplomatic importance than head of the Foreign Ministry.