Soviet party cleanses its ranks

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33111, 29 December 1972, Page 9

Soviet party cleanses its ranks

t By

DONALD ARMOUR, A.A.P.

-Reuter correspondent, through N.Z.P.A.)

MOSCOW, December 28. A “political mass Xray” process is gaining momentum in the Soviet Union.

More than 14 million members of the Communist Party are putting their reliability and integrity under scrutiny in a process called the exchange of party cards: anyone found badly wanting will not receive a new card.

The mass scrutiny will continue until 1974.

The last such process occurred 18 years ago. Announcing the new screening, the First Secretary (Mr Brezhnev) said: “We must not allow a conciliatory attitude to those who misbehave. The party cleanses its ranks of those who violate the programme and rules . . .” It is not expected to amount to a purge. On the contrary, the party wants more members, not fewer, especially among the work-'

ers. It calls itself the guiding force of the working-class, but only about 40 per cent of its ranks are workers, according to official statistics.

Yet it does not want new members at any price. Lenin, the party founder, did not see it as a spontaneous mass movement, but as a well-dis-ciplined phalanx of politi-cally-conscious, and educated Communists agitating the masses.

The exchange of party cards will get rid of some incorrigible defaulters, but it appears also to be intended to propel the fainter-hearted in the ranks into better behaviour, and more activity on behalf of the party. Although the party’s membership doubled from 7 million to 14 million between 1957 and 1971 — of a population of nearly 250 million — the leaders do not need everybody in the country to be a Communist.

They would rather pick and choose the readiest spirits and keep the numbers

low. relative to the over-all population, to avoid undesirable elements trying to use the party for their own ends. They would like more workers’ representation, but representation only from workers whom they can trust. As the sole political party in the country, it brooks no factionalism or opposition to Marxist-Leninist revolutionary principles. Party members must not question decrees once these are adopted.

Each would-be member goes through a year of probation after being recommended by three pgrty members of at least five years standing. After joining, the burden on him is greater than on a non-member.

He must watch his personal habits more carefully, show an active Communist spirit within a party organisation, and avoid the appearance of careerism: in other words, he must con-

form. Punishments include a reprimand, a strict re-

primand with or without entry in the membership book, or expulsion, which is decided on by the local party organisation at what is. in effect, a trial. Party members are now undergoing interviews with their local party secretaries all over the country as part of the exchange of party cards. There are about 370,000 party cells in every factor,', farm, school, or institute from

the Arctic ice-breakers to rhe Central Asian Tadzhik Mountain farms, from the coastal batteries at Kaliningrad, in the Baltic, to the gas fields on Sakhalin Island in the Pacific. The party watches every

walk of Soviet life. “Pravda” has criticised some party secretaries for their treatment of ordinary working-class members during these interviews, and has urged a more understanding

attitude. It describes how a man was reprimanded for failing

to show up for obligatory political studies. However, it turned out that the classroom was always cold and, the propagandist in charge was so badly prepared that he merely read aloud from a newspaper. “I can read the newspaper at home," the member being examined is quoted as saying. While party membership makes little difference to most workers in terms of materia] privilege, it can advance the career of a middleclass professional man; and expulsion for him could mean social disaster. Therefore, the majority of workers have to be “agitated” into the party, while professional people tend to seek the card themselves.

After last year’s twentyfourth party congress, the Central Committee — the representative party board linking leading Soviet Communists — had only 11 members described as “workers and farmers” in a full membership of 241.