Czechoslovakia A Reluctant Reformer Bows Out

By William R. Doerner

Gustav Husak came to power in extraordinary circumstances. He was installed as leader of Czechoslovakia's Communist Party in 1969, during the tumult of "normalization" that followed the Soviet-led invasion of his country the previous summer. Last week Husak, 74, exited under conditions that were even more extraordinary. By asking to step down as party chief and nominating fellow Politburo Member Milos Jakes, 65, to replace him, he became the first leader in Soviet-dominated East bloc history to give up power voluntarily.

Husak retained his seat on the eleven-member ruling Politburo, as well as the largely ceremonial job of President -- perquisites that would probably not have been accorded to a leader who, like his predecessor Alexander Dubcek, had been forced from office. Though Husak publicly gave no reason for bowing out, he is known to be suffering from failing eyesight. He may also have wanted to be out of the limelight during the approaching 20th anniversary of Dubcek's fabled Prague Spring, the months of flowering economic and political reform that preceded, and precipitated, the invasion. Worldwide recollections of that exciting era are certain to offer unflattering contrasts to the nearly two decades of harsh political repression and economic decline that stand as Husak's main legacy. -

Ironically, it will be the task of his successor to undo much of that dubious bequest under pressure from a Kremlin leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who is now promoting many of the reforms that Husak suppressed. Whether Jakes (pronounced Ya-kesh) is the right man for that job is hotly debated. A colorless Soviet-trained bureaucrat who presided over a sweeping purge in the early 1970s, he hardly qualifies as new blood. In an interview with TIME, Dissident Playwright Vaclav Havel called Jakes a "man without a specific face, without his own ideas." On the other hand, said Havel, "in our situation any change is good." Jakes's pro-Soviet credentials suggest that he may be at least somewhat more amenable to Gorbachev's demands for reform than Husak was. In his first speech as party leader, Jakes used some of the "democratic" buzz words of the Soviet leader's reform campaign. In any case, there was little doubt that Jakes's selection had been vetted by the Kremlin. Gorbachev, who made little secret of his dislike of Husak, sent a congratulatory message to Jakes, predicting that his appointment would lead to the "further development and revival of Socialism on Czechoslovak soil." When the local party daily Rude Pravo published the Soviet message, however, it dropped the word revival, with its implied criticism of Husak.

As chairman of the Central Committee's economic council, Jakes had responsibility for drafting the modest program of economic reforms permitted under Husak. The first clue to his leadership style will be whether he maintains a tightly centralized economy or launches more ambitious innovations. A nation that was once an industrial powerhouse, Czechoslovakia is a potential showcase for reform in Eastern Europe. But will its leaders countenance a new Prague Spring as the price of attaining that status?

With reporting by Kenneth W. Banta/Prague