The active opposition to the old order is strong in some of the non-Russian republics — in the Baltic States, in Moldavia, in Armenia, in Georgia (where the referendum did not take place) and Western Ukraine; in the big cities - Gorbachev got only 50% support in Moscow and Leningrad; and among the miners of Ukraine and Western Siberia, who launched openly political strikes during the referendum campaign, calling for Gorbachev's resignation. Outside of these areas, however, the party's writ still runs.
A man for all seasons
Furthermore the opposition is united only by the fact that it is in opposition. Its figurehead, Yeltsin, can only hold together his diverse constituencies by being all
Thus, this protagonist of Shatalin's crash 500-day plan to introduce a free market economy can also oppose price rises when they are decreed by his political opponent; supported by miners in the Donbass, who would be laid off in their thousands if their industry was exposed to world market forces, during the referendum campaign he nonetheless continued to speak out for a rapid transition to a free market economy.
On the question of respecting the right to national self-determination, Yeltsin is equally ambiguous. According to him "no matter what the results of the referendum, the union will not fall apart." He looks to "a union of republics under a collective leadership" - not what the nationalist governments in the Baltic states have in
Nonetheless, perhaps scenting a coming attempt by the Gorbachev leadership to coopt or retreat behind his more "moderopponents - including Yelstsin -the Western press agrees in seeing the latter as one of the big winners of the referendum. On his recent visit to the Soviet Union, United States Secretary of State James Baker made a point of meeting Yeltsin as well as nationalist leaders
According to New York Times commentator Leslie H. Gelb, Mr. Baker's visit presents an opportunity to "promote reconciliation between Mr. Gorbachev and the democratic opposition....
"The first step for US diplomats is to gauge whether the reformers and nationalists now harbour thoughts of taking power the old-fashioned Russian way — by revolution - and to dissuade them from that course" (International Herald Tribune, March 14, 1991).
But neither repression nor political combinations will halt the advance of the country's crisis. *