Soviet Union Face-Off on Reform

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When grumbling could be heard at the suggestion that Monday's session be cut short to allow Deputies to attend the funeral, Gorbachev intervened, noting that "we ought to pay our respects to Andrei Dimitreyevich." Approached by reporters, Gorbachev delivered a eulogy of his own, hinting at his genuine feelings for the man who had so often challenged him to move further and faster toward overhauling their struggling country. "It is a great loss," he said. "You could agree or not agree with him, but you knew he was a man of conviction and sincerity. He was not a political intriguer. I valued this in him."

From the moment Sakharov returned from Gorky, he was often at odds with the man who gave him his freedom, whether pressing at home for the immediate release of all political prisoners or warning audiences abroad that Gorbachev was amassing too much power. He clashed with the Soviet leader on the opening day of the Congress last May, saying he would support him as President only after an open debate, and was dismissed from the podium on the final day when he tried to outline his own political program.

With his whining voice, rambling syntax and rumpled suits, Sakharov was not cut out to be a public speaker in an era of live television. Sometimes he was all too ready to embrace every needy political cause and seemed in danger of squandering his considerable moral authority. Two weeks before his death, Sakharov joined a handful of Deputies from a radical coalition known as the Interregional Group in calling for a "warning strike" to force Congress to debate Article 6 and a package of reform laws. The strike was a failure, a tactical error that strained relations with Gorbachev, who was already impatient with Sakharov's frequent interruptions at legislative sessions. Nonetheless, Sakharov's death left a permanent void in the ranks of the liberal opposition and deprived the democratic movement of its symbolic leader.

Gorbachev too is likely to regret that Sakharov's prophetic voice has been silenced. Despite their differences, the two men had managed to carry on something resembling a dialogue amid all the clamor at the Congress. Seven months have passed since the new parliament held its first meeting, more than half a year in which political change has outpaced progress in solving economic problems and ethnic tensions. At times last week, Moscow's maestro tried to orchestrate the debate, cutting off talk with a curt "That's all." Still, plenty of sour notes were struck. The Armenian delegation stormed out in protest, radical Lithuanians vented their mistrust of the Kremlin, and ordinary Deputies griped about empty food stores. At one point, a stung Gorbachev even flared, "Don't direct any accusations at me. Just calm down!"