World First of two articles. MOSCOW — *Democracy is the worst system ever invented,” Winston Churchill once quipped, “except for all the others.” That sentiment is transportable. In the thick of an extraordinary, tumultuous, baf- fling, breathtaking, infuriating and inspir- ing two-and-a-half weeks — the duration of the historic first session of the USSR’s new Congress of People’s Deputies, May 25 to June 9 — the entire Soviet people seem to have discovered that open public inquiry, scrutiny and debate may offer no panaceas or ready solutions for anything, yet there is absolutely no substitute for such a process. What is occurring is nothing less than the formation of a new, integral, democratic political culture in a land long grown used to deformed and schizoid political expres- sion. The divided face of Soviet politics — on one hand an official surface of con- formity, monolithic ceremony and dogma- tism, on the other an uninhibited, nihilistic, often cynical, gossipy “kitchen culture” that thrived in private — is now fusing and evolving rapidly into healthy and genuine public politics. All of the habits, old formulas, icons and - enemies, are dissolving into the bubbling chemistry of a new parliament. Soviets are becoming deeply and person- ally involved in the political process, most for the first time in their lives. An intimate example: my wife’s grandmother, Yelena Yulievna, was a small girl in Petrograd on the day of the October Revolution. She remembers that day, and everything since. Now she has spent two weeks virtually FROM glued to the television set, following the proceedings of the Congress, often shaking her head in disbelief or amazement. “I never thought I would see something like this,” she says. “It’s wonderful.” Actually, anywhere you went during: those extraordinary days you were apt to find people — workers, customers_ and passers-by alike — crowded about aTV : screen. It must have been hell on the national economy. People walked in the streets and rode the commuter trains with transistor radios pressed to their ears. In Moscow’s Arbat district, groups of strangers fell spontaneously into heated debates that mirrored, in content and intensity, those unfolding on the Congress floor. It’s hard to believe that this process got underway less than a year ago, at the 19th conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There the outlines of the pol- itical restructuring were determined and a new note of open discussion, pluralism and debate clearly sounded. The constitutional provisions creating the new 2,250-member Congress were passed by the old Supreme Soviet last November, and elections held in March. Each stage brought a development of public consciousness. This is particularly so of the elections, in which voters blud- geoned the thought that there might be any gentle, controlled or half-hearted transition to full democracy. Hence the new Congress, composed of 750 deputies elected from social organiza- tions, 750 elected on an equal basis from the 15 national republics of the USSR, and 750 elected on a proportional basis. It is now the Soviet Union’s supreme legislative body — intended to meet twice a year — and is 8 « Pacific Tribune, June 19, 1989 Soviet People’s Congress echo of country-wide public debate The 2,250-member Congress of People’s Deputies convenes May 25 in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses; at left, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, elected president of the new Congress, casts his vote. arguably the most actively representative such body, not only in Soviet history, but also in general global experience. It was, and acted like, a genuine micro- cosm of Soviet society: nearly 20 per cent of the deputies were workers and peasants; a further.35 per cent represented the lower levels of industrial and farm management; 33 per cent were the apparat — that is, middle-and-top level state, economic and party managers; and 12 per cent were pro- fessional intellectuals. One painful setback occurred: the proportion of women depu- ties dropped from over 30 per cent in the previous legislature to just 16 per cent in this Congress. In electing from its ranks the 542- member new Supreme Soviet, which will serve as the USSR’s first permanently- sitting parliament, the Congress also appears to have rejected any suggestion that this body be allowed to drift away from grass-roots composition and control. It roundly defeated a motion — put forward, predictably, by lawyers — that members of the Supreme Soviet be forced to quit their regular jobs, rather than taking a leave of absence, thus clearing the way for a caste of “professional politicians” to emerge. The rules provide for 20 per cent of the members of the Supreme Soviet to be renewed each year from the ranks of Congress deputies. Beyond procedural wrangles, the agenda facing the Congress was the entire immense and taxing burden of Soviet reality today. “There are more than 2,000 of us here,” remarked one deputy, “and almost as many problems to deal with.” As if to punctuate that thought, a new round of ethnic violence exploded in Soviet Uzbekistan, while a horrifying train wreck in Bashkiria claimed hundreds of lives and led the Congress to suspend its activities for a day of mourning. The shattering events in China also hung heavy over the Congress. It adopted a care- ful and restrained statement, but outside, Soviet commentators were quick to draw the comparison between the actions of the Chinese army and the tragic events in Tbi- lisi, Soviet Georgia, on April 9, when troops crushed a demonstration, killing 19 people. The point was clear: the temptation to solve problems through repression can only lead to social aggravation and destabilization in the long run. .Panama’s government said this week. ) Washington’s actions will primarily — without consultation with Panamanian World News Detention against Palestinians hit The widespread use of administrative detention against Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories violates fun- damental human rights, Amnesty Inter- national reported last week. More than 5,000 Palestinians have been detained “without charge or trial” since the Palestinian Intifada, the popu- lar uprising, began in the Israeli- occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank in December, 1987, the organization said. Amnesty is calling for an immediate review of the cases of 1,100 people now detained, many of them under harsh conditions-in the Ketziot concentration camp in Israel’s Negev desert. Palestinians are rarely told why they are detained, and some are hooded and beaten, locked in tiny cells or interro- gated at length, the report said. “Administrative detention should not be used as a substitute for, and a means of avoiding the safeguards of, the crimi- nal justice system,” Amnesty said. Those who are held for the peaceful expression of their opinions or non-political activi- ties should be released immediately and unconditionally, the report said. Panama opposes new canal fees — Washington’s unilateral decision to raise Panama Canal passage fees will have an adverse effect on international trade and all countries using the canal, affect Latin American countries, the government statement stresses. Five U.S. members of the Panama Canal Commission, in violation of the — bilateral 1977 Panama Canal Treaty, and representatives, on June | endorsed a 9.8 per cent increase in the canal-user fee on all cargo shipments. This decision was — ostensibly made to bring the fee in line — ~with the international rate of inflation. However, the fee hike is expected to hurt especially the Latin American coun- tries, most of whose exports and imports _ are shipped via the Panama Canal. Should the cost of vital imports to those countries increase significantly asa _ result of the fee hike, the socio-economic development of the region would be seriously impeded, the statement said. NATO proposals queried by the SPD The decisions adopted at the recent NATO summit in Brussels are one-sided and may increase the nuclear danger for Europe in the 1990s, said Hermann — Scheer, disarmament expert of the West German opposition Social Democratic — Party (SPD) in Bonn on Sunday. The final document of the meeting, he — said, assigned high priority to cutting conventional arms, while in the area of nuclear arms, negotiations are seen a possible only on short-range nuclear missiles. Thus, several types of nuclear arms deployed in Europe including — nuclear artillery and sea- and _air- launched nuclear systems, remain ex- cluded from future negotiations. Scheer said this approach gives too much prominence to the nuclear factor in planning West European security pol- icies. He expressed his support for a simultaneous reduction of conventional — and nuclear arms.