The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 25, 1988 - Page 3
Soviets
unveil
selection
reforms
MOSCOW (AP) - Last Sunday,
Soviet newspapers published the
long-awaited election reforms
proposed by President Mikhail
Gorbachev last June. Although the
;reforms call for a choice of candid-
ates, they sharply limit what they
can advocate.
"The program of the candidate
must not contradict the Constitution
or Soviet law," says the draft election
law, which will be discussed in the
media before the Supreme Soviet
,legislature considers them in
November.
Since the Constitution defines the
aSoviet Union as a socialist nation led
by the Communist Party, the phrase
;seems to rule out other political
;parties, and tie unaffiliated candidates
to the communist system.
Still, citizens may see something
'akin to a Western-style election
campaign for the first time next
;Spring, as nominees grapple with
;new concepts like competing
;candidates,' television time and a
campaign staff.
The draft law says candidates for
the 2,250 seats in the new Congress
'of People's Deputies will be given
,time off from work to campaign, free
public transportation within their
;districts, and access to the state-run
Fnedia. They also may ask as many
as 10 friends to help them campaign.
Traditionally, Soviet elections
have had only one candidate for each
position, so campaigning was
limited to a biography and a few
nights to meet the candidate.
Fledgling opposition groups like
the Democratic Union may find it
tough to field a candidate in the face
of a requirement that candidates for
territorial districts be nominated by
workers' groups of at least 500
I People.
The Democratic Union itself
would seem to be specifically barred
from participation since it seeks to
repeal the section of the Constitution
that grants a monopoly to the
Communist Party.
However, the reform law seems to
open possibilities for groups with
broad backing, such as the
nationalistic People's Front
organizations in the Baltic republics.
These associations in Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia have won
official approval by advocating not
just cultural freedom but also
economic reforms akin to those of
Gorbachev.
Speakers
decry
policy
U.S.
A Salvadoran peasant farmer drives his
his fields. The flooding was produced
coastal town 75 miles from San Salvad
city ot
Storms popula
tatters
Continued from Page 1 destroy
Nicaragua suffered the most with ro
from Hurricane Joan as it lashed Offi
the Caribbean coast and then rip- were k
ped its way overland to the Pac- miles e
ific. In M
The Nicaraguan government electric
said about 300,000 people were telepho
homeless and at least 40 people people
were missing. lost the
Bluefields, a Nicaraguan port Muc
Associated Press
oxcart through three feet of water on his way to work
by tropical storm "Miriam" as it passed through the
[or.
n the Caribbean with a
tion of 38,000, was in
with at least 6,000 homes
ed and few buildings still
ofs.
cials said at least 21 people
killed in Bluefields, 180
ast of Managua.
Managua, the storm toppled
al towers and tore down
ne lines and trees. Many
living besides riverbeds
ir homes.
-h of Managua remained
without electric power or drinking
water yesterday and the govern-
ment ordered schools to remain
closed.
In Washington, White House
spokesperson Marlin Fitzwater
claimed Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega was using the
storm tragedy as propaganda
against the Reagan admini-
stration's support of Nicaraguan
rebels fighting the leftist San-
dinista government.
BY PAUL de ROOIJ
The United States still hampers
economic development efforts in
Vietnam, stated speakers last night in
a forum called "Punishing the Poor."
"When the smoke is gone and the
dust has settled - and we extend a
hand in peace - only then the war
has ended," Fred Down, an American
Vietnam veteran once said. By this
standard the Vietnam war has not
ended, and U.S. policy towards Viet-
nam and Kampuchea has been both
punitive and vindictive, said Ravi
Khanna, an Oxfam director who ad-
dressed 30 students at the Michigan
Union.
Rev. Barbara Fuller, co-founder of
the Interfaith Council for Peace, re-
lated her experiences about a recent
trip to Vietnam, citing numerous
examples of U.S. policies whose
sole purpose was "to keep Vietnam
from ever having a viable economy.-
The United States has exerted
pressure to keep children in the state
of Washington from sending school
supplies to Vietnam; it has pressured
European countries to keep them
from delivering basic foodstuffs; and
it has pressured UN agencies to re-
duce aid to this battered country, she
said.
"Most people with whom I talk
are outraged to find out that the
United States hasn't given a penny to
reconstruct that ravaged country,"~
Fuller said. "We helped the van-
quished nations after the World War
II after all." Why should these two
countries be deprived of reconstruc-
tion assistance until this day, she
asked.
The United States committed itself
to deliver billions of dollars in war
reparations when it signed the Paris
Peace Accords. Since then, the
United States has contrived one pre-
text after another to renege on the
Accords, she said. The latest pretext
is the U.S. insistence that it won't
send reparations until Vietnam ac-
counts for all the MIAs to its satis-
faction.
Her trip to Vietnam was a demys-
tifying experience, Fuller said. She
found a poor, proud people trying to
rebuild their lives from the wreckage
of the war. Despite the shortcomings
she found that they placed a heavy
emphasis on education, and health.
"Vietnam is reputed to have the
best health system in the Third
World," she said. Fuller also found
that religion was not suppressed, and
churches of all denominations were
open to all.
Kampuchea also suffered tremen-
dously from the U.S. bombing, the
rampaging of the. U.S.-backed Lon
Nol government, and finally the
mass crimes of the Khmer Rouge led
by Pol Pot, Khanna said.
Today the United States actively
hampers any effort by anyone in the
world to aid Kampuchea, Khanna
said. And to add insult to injury, "the
U.S. recognizes the Pol Pot forces at
the UN," said Khanna.
India's religious battles
threaten political unity
FROM THE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
BOMBAY, India - A new kind
of politics is taking shape in India's
second-largest city that could spell
trouble for secular democracy as the
country heads into the 21st century.
The hold of Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi's Congress (I) party is
weakening throughout India, and
people are increasingly giving their
support to small regional parties and
to leaders of Hindu, Muslim and
Sikh revivalism.
The explosive combination of
regionalism and religious revivalism
could be the politics of India's future.
It has already turned the Punjab into
a never-ending nightmare, and now
political observers are pointing to the
recent resurgence of a controversial
Hindu party in Bombay as the latest;
example of the trend.
Bombay, an overcrowded by
economically booming metropolis of
nine million, is the capital of the
central Indian state of Maharashtra,
which forms a transitional zone
between the Hindi-speaking North
and the Dravidian South. For decades
the city has simmered with conflict
between Marathi-speaking Maharash-
trians and migrants from other states,
especially the South.
In municipal elections in 1985,
control of the city was wrested from
the Congress (I) by the Shiv Sena, a
party which has a strong Hindu
stance against "unreasonable" de-
mands by religious minorities,
especially Muslims.
Since then, the city has seen
campaigns to replace the English
signboards with Marathi ones;
coercive efforts to get bands, airlines
and other large businesses to give
preference in hiring Marathis; and,
earlier this year, an abortive attempt
to boycott the powerful Sikh
business community in retaliation
for Sikh terrorism in the Punjab.
The Sena's strident rhetoric has
made it more popular. Last
December it won a state assembly by
election in a Bombay suburb. In
April, after a virulent anti-Muslim
campaign, it captured the city
government of Aurangabad, a small
city about 160 miles northeast of
Bombay.
It's still not clear whether the
Sena will realize its ambition of
ruling the state, but the message of,
its recent success is clear: In modern
India, appeals to anti-Muslim senti-
ment and to regionalism work. As
Muslims and other minorities join
the middle class in growing numbers
and begin to lobby for more
representation in olitics and the civil
service, Hindu resentment will likely
grow, and foreces like the Shiv Sena
will flourish.
Salvadoran leftist
declares candidacy
FROM TIE
PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE
SAN SALVADOR - For the
first time in the history of El Sal-
vador, a leftist, Guillermo Manuel
Ungo, is running for president. His
campaign opens a new and complex
chapter in the history of this tiny
country's eight-year-old civil war.
"We know the sea is full of
sharks, but we are willing to swim,"
the candidate declared at his an-
nouncement press conference.
Ungo heads the ticket of a coali-
tion of three center-left parties known
as the Democratic Convergence. Two
of these parties, including Ungo's
own, are allied with the armed insur-
gents of the Farabundo Marti Na-
tional Liberation Front (FMLN),
who are battling government forces.
The FMLN insurgents have re-
fused to participate in elections held
in recent years, denouncing them as a
U.S. propaganda ploy to win Con-
gressional support for the Salvadoran
regime. Washington has provided
nore than $3 billion to the govern-
ment during the course of its eight
year war with the insurgents.
During this time, more than
60,000 civilians have been murdered
by the military or right-wing death
squads linked to the military.
Ungo largely shares the rebels'
assessment of the elections in which
he is now a candidate. "It is a strange
position to say we will participate in
elections when conditions for
democracy don't exist, and when po-
litical power can't be won with
votes," he explained while relaxing
in his living room in an upper-class
section of the city. But this country
is in a strange position."
"Votes do not win political power
in El Salvador," he argued, adding
that even if a right-wing candidate
wins the election, "the military will
continue to be the real power. Our
participation has limited objectives,
the most important of which is to
win more political space for a nego-
tiated solution to the conflict."
The rebels have been calling for a
negotiated settlement to the war for
several years, and talks between the
leftists and the regime were held in
1984, 1985, and 1987. Ungo repre-
sented the political wing of the rebel
See FMLN, Page 5
THE
LIST
POLICE NOTES
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Speakers
"Student's Movement in
Burma" -- Grad. Student Tun
Thwin, International Center, 603 E.
Madison, 12 noon. Buffet lunch avail-
able - $1 for students, $1.50 for oth-
ers.
"Tectonics and Sedimentation:
Evidence from Trace Elements
and Nd Isotopes" - 4001 C.C.
Little, 4 pm. Coffee and cookies at
3:30 pm.
Technology and Medicine -
' Andrew Zweifler (Internal Medicine),
Sally Payton (Law), William Martel
(Radiology), 1005 Dow, 3:30-5 pm.
"Magnetic Relaxation Spec-
troscopy" - Prof. Robert G.
Bryant, University of Rochester Medi-
cal School, 1300 Chem Bldg., 4 pm.
"The Self-Regulatory Function
of Pre-Schoolers' Private
Speech" - Prof. Rafael Diaz, Uni-
versity of New Mexico and Visiting
Prof. King-Chavez-Parks, 6th floor,
Institute for Social Research, 4 pm.
"Democratic Party: The Left's
Lesser Evil?" - Prof. Justin
Schwartz of Kalamazoo College, Poli
Sci and Philosophy, Guild House,
7:30 pm. Free admission. Presented
by Solidarity.
Meetings
Rainforest Action Movement
(RAM) - 1520 Dana, 7 pm.
Undergraduate English Associ-
ation/Yawp Magazine - 4th
fla'.,w ihvan1ain 7 m
Center, 7:30 pm.
WAND - Film and discussion on
SDI, MLB Rm. B101, 7-8:30 pm.
Tagar: Pro Israel Student Ac-
tivists - At Dominick's, 5
pm.
U of M Archery - Coliseum, 7-
10 pm. For more info call 764-4084
or send a message to Archery @ UB.
The Public Relations Club -
Robert Seltzer, Welker Rm.,
Michigan Union, 4:30 pm.
Furthermore
SOLIDARITY - "Paradox of So-
cial Democracy", Guild House, 802
Monroe, 7:30 pm.
U of M Women's Lacrosse
Practice - Tartan Turf, 9-11.
U of M Women's Soccer Club
- Game vs. Michigan State at MSU,
4:30 pm on Thursday, October 27.
U of M Fencing Practice - Hill
Coliseum, 7 pm.
Racial and Ethnic Minorities
at U of M - Workshop Series, Al-
ice Lloyd Hall, Red Carpet Lounge, 8-
10 pm.
Men's Lives - A film and discus-
sion on the socialization of men in
our culture and changing men's roles.
Anderson Rm, Michigan Union, 7:30
pm. Open to public.
Employer Presentation - Drexel
Burnham Lambert, Michigan Union,
Pendelton Rm., 7-9 pm.
Resumes that Work: The Em-
ployer Perspective - Career
Planning and Placement, 5:10-6 pm.
Assault Arrest
A 19-year-old Ann Arbor man was
arrested after he allegedly kicked a 20-
year-old Friday morning, Ann Arbor
police said.
Sgt. Sherry Vail said the victim
was treated at the University Medical
Center for head injuries and released.
The suspect was arrested at the scene
of the incident on an outstanding
warrant, and police said they will
seek a warrant charging him with the
assault.
Stolen Car
A 1984 Buick Regal was stolen
from the Liberty Square parking
structure in the 500 block of East
Liberty Friday, Sgt. Vail said. She
said the car was reported to have been
locked, and an investigation is
continuing.
Break-in
A University student told police
that thieves broke into his apartment
in the 1000 block of Ireland Drive
Sunday and stole a videocassette
recorder valued at $265, Sgt. Vail
said. She said the door to the
apartment was left unlocked.
- By Nathan Smith
r
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01
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