Gorbachev man in Soviet Cabinet

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 11

Gorbachev man in Soviet Cabinet

By

SETH MYDANS,

, of “The

New York Times” (through NZPA) Moscow The man promoted yesterday by Mikhail Gorbachev to the nation’s ruling Politburo fits the new Soviet chiefs profile for leadership: young, tough, hard on corruption, but open to economic experimentation. Eduard Shevardnadze, aged 57, is the fourth man promoted to full membership in the Communist Party’s Politburo since Mr Gorbachev came to power in March. His promotion from the rank of candidate or non-voting member, along with the removal of a Gorbachev rival, Grigori Romanov, further consolidates the new leader’s grip on the top level of Soviet power. The Politburo now has 13 full members and four candidate or non-voting members. The four recent promotions owe their ranks directly to Mr Gorbachev. Mr Shevardnadze is the Communist Party chief of the southern republic of Georgia, a region known for its hustle, economic energy, and tendency towards corruption ana illegal free enterprise. Dapper in well-cut grey suits, and with white, wavy hair, Mr Shevardnadze is a popular figure in Georgia, having won local respect for his crack-down on corrupt practices while allowing a measure of latitude to the free-wheeling Georgian way of life. Something of a local prince in the Soviet Union’s maverick, mountainous republic in the Caucasus, Mr Shevardnadze becomes the third non-Russian in the Politburo, along with Geidar Aliyev, of Azerbaijan, and Dinmukhamed Kunayev, of Kazakhstan. His background is in Communist Party work and in law enforcement, and he was promoted to the top post in the republic, first secretary of the Communist Party, in September, 1972, on the heels of a corruption scandal that caused the removal of his predecessor. Leonid Brezhnev was national leader at the time. Since then he has earned a reputation as a strong leader who deals harshly with such things as corruption, manifestations of Georgian nationalist feeling, SI the drug abuse that is a ional problem. "

He has’ also shown characteristics favoured by Mr Gorbachev in listening to the opinions of the rank and file and in supporting a relative openness in style of government. His readiness for economic experiment has been demonstrated by the fact that Georgia was the first republic to put into practice a regulation allowing family ownership of small private enterprises, and a new system for regional agricultural organisations. Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze, the son of a teacher, was born on January 25, 1928, in the Georgian village of Mamati. He became a Communist Party member at the young age of 20, while still a student, and later graduated from the local party school and from the Kutaisi Teachers’ College, where he studied history. He became a deputy of the Georgian Supreme Soviet, the republic’s nominal Parliament, immediately upon graduation in 1959. Six years later he was named as Georgian Minister of Maintenance of Public Order, a post that later carried the title of Minister of Internal Affairs. After attaining the top post in Georgia, he also moved into national politics in 1976, when he became a member of the Communist Party’s central committee. Two years later he was named as a candidate member of the Politburo. That promotion was seen as a reward for boosting the Georgian economy and for his relative success in establishing “social order” by battling the bribery, blackmarketing, and protection rackets that had gwwn

rampant under his predecessor, Vasily Mzhavanadze. He is considered to be a party loyalist who supports the domination of ethnic Russians in his republic while playing on Georgian cultural themes to local audiences. Mr Shevardnadze has made gestures towards the relatively open style of government Mr Gorbachev has advocated. In March the Georgian Communist Party newspaper, “Zarya Vostoka,” published a questionnaire seeking public reaction to -measures taken against corruption. The next month, Mr Shevardnadze dismissed a subordinate with the sharp language that has been used since Mr Gorbachev called for more publicity about the workings of Government. “The practice of our work teaches that ignoring the interests of the people, let alone greed, will not be forgiven anyone,” he said. In a speech last month he sounded the economic themes of the Gorbachev Administration, speaking of the introduction of new technology, enhanced economic efficiency, and the integration of science with production. Mr Shevardnadze’s appointment to the Politburo follows the promotions in April to the policy-making body of three Gorbachev allies, Yegor Ligachev, Nikolai Ryzhkov, and Viktor Chebrikov. Mr Gorbachev has also promoted three men to the powerful Communist Party Secretariat, which handles the day-to-day affairs of the country. • Grigori Romanov, resigned from the leadership “for health reasons”. But Western diplomats here were in no doubt that Mr Romanov had been asked to quit his Politburo membership and his position as a Communist Party central committee secretary. Soviet television news showed official portraits of each of the three men promoted, but not of Mr Romanov. In a further sign of the firmness of Mr Gorbachev’s grip on the machinery of Kremlin power, it was announced yesterday that the Politburo had met to confirm him as head of the commission preparing a new party programme that will jay down goals into the next'century.