Following the leader.

Following the Leader

The Communist parties of Eastern Europe have been holding national congresses in the wake of the Soviet Union's congress and docilely following the lines laid down by Mikhail Gorbachev. In Prague, characteristically, there have been only routine promises and routine criticism. There were exhortations to improve the economy, inspire the workers afresh, reinvigorate investment policy, and pay more attention to announced social and political goals. The net result was a renewed mandate to the Czech leadership, which has not changed since the Dubcek regime was replaced after the Prague Spring of 1968. In Bulgaria, on the other hand, the emphasis was on rectifying economic failures, which have repeatedly come under fire from Soviet critics, especially as regards the quality of goods exported to Russian markets. As though in anticipated response, the Bulgarian government recently abolished five economic ministries and dismissed a number of high-ranking bureaucrats. Todor Zhivkov, the Bulgarian Party leader, is said to have been closest to former Soviet potentate Leonid Brezhnev of all the satellite chiefs, and Brezhnev elements have been a target for elimination under the new regime in Moscow. However, no one expects Zhivkov to leave his post, either willingly or unwillingly, in the near future.