In Parliament, Musings on Democracy

Voices from the Congress of People’s Deputies:

‘Empty Saucepans Are More Dangerous . . . Than Tanks’

“We must always remember that empty saucepans are more dangerous for democracy than even tanks.”

--Kazakhstan writer Olzhas O. Suleimenov, on the urgent need for Soviet Parliament members to improve living standards.

‘The Right to Be Free’

“A people that deprives another people of the right to be free cannot be free itself.”

--Yori Balayan, a deputy from the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, about Azerbaijani treatment of his people.

‘Vulgarity’

“The triumph of democracy is already turning into vulgarity, Bolshevik-style: eradication of dissidence, firings of journalists and calls for people to denounce their neighbors. . . . My 6-year-old daughter went to kindergarten yesterday. Do you know how their day started? With a solemn rendition of the Russian anthem, then several speeches praising the ‘selfless and glorious defenders of the (Russian) White House.’ ”

--Alexander N. Kraiko, a Moscow professor of physics and mathematics, bemoaning the new orthodoxy developing around Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

‘We Won’t Throw Him Away’

“We dropped Misha on the floor.

We broke off his little paw.

But we won’t throw him away,

Because we think that he’s OK.”

--A Russian nursery rhyme, originally referring to a teddy bear but adapted to mock Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s diminished political status.

‘Maneuvering Patiently’

“Some wanted Gorbachev to move faster; some slowed him down. He was maneuvering patiently between the left and right, not for the sake of saving himself, but for the sake of avoiding a direct clash between the opposing sides that were ready to exterminate each other. . . . Some hate him because he gave too much freedom, others hate him for too little freedom. Some because he destroyed the union, others because he prevented its collapse.”

--Victor V. Goncharov, a Soviet Parliament member from the Donetsk region of the Ukraine.

‘You Can’t Choose Your Brothers’

“Why did they used to say that in the Soviet Union, all of the peoples were brothers? Because you can’t choose your brothers--you can only choose your friends.”

--Leonty I. Sandulyak, a Parliament member from the Ukrainian city of Chernovtsy.

‘Illegal and Arbitrary’

“As illegal and criminal as the totalitarian regime was in our country--annihilating not only politically but also physically all other political parties and tendencies, including tendencies in the party itself--just as illegal and arbitrary is the current elimination in fact of the Communist Party.”

--Roy A. Medvedev, Marxist historian and Communist Party member.