‘Pravda’ accuses Mr Reagan

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 22

‘Pravda’ accuses Mr Reagan

NZPA-Reuter Moscow The Soviet Communist Party newspaper, “Pravda,” has accused President Reagan of acting against women’s rights and denounced as a vote-catching gimmick his decision to declare “Women’s Equal Rights Day.” In a comment headlined, “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Pravda” noted that women in the United States were poorly paid. The Republican Administration had effectively buried the proposed Equal Rights Amendment and the negative position of the President himself played a decisive role in this,” it said.

“The present Government has not taken one practical step towards meeting the demands of women,” it said.

But Mr Reagan knew 53 per cent of voters were women.

“From this emerged the idea of declaring a day of equal rights for women, the noisy effect of which will compensate for (his) inactivity m this field,” “Pravda” said.

The newspaper cited the fact that that there were only 24 women in Congress as evidence of inequality. There are no women in the Soviet Union’s 12-man ruling Politburo and none among the country’s 101 Government Ministers. The official news media reported briefly the nomination of Geraldine Ferraro to run as Democratic vicepresidential candidate, but also dismissed the choice as a gimmick.