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Moscow Sweepstakes

Jockeying for position to become Leonid Brezhnev’s successor as the ruler of Russia goes on at full speed. Andrei Kirilenko had been tagged as the “sure” candidate to take over from Brezhnev, even though the two men are the same age, 75. However, Kirilenko’s own health is said to have deteriorated severely in the past few months. His public appearances have become rare. And recently he failed to sign the obituary in Pravda of a regional Communist Party official, the only one of the 13 members of the Politburo—of which he is the senior member—not to do so. As he wanes, so wax the fortunes of two new rivals for the throne of Lenin, Konstantin Chernenko and Yuri Andropov. Chernenko is a member of Brezhnev’s personal cabinet and would represent continuity in the government. But Andropov, who is only 68, is drawing ahead in the betting. He resigned as chief of the secret police (KGB) last May to enter the Party secretariat. He would probably be a tough boss because of his KGB background, observers think, while as an admirer of the Hungarian “experiment,” he would initiate more rational economic leadership. The world will know more after November 7, when the Soviet hierarchy assembles above Lenin’s tomb for the traditional military parade in Red Square. Often an important source of power information in the past, this extraordinary lineup may continue to indicate the evolution of power in Moscow as clearly as anything else.

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Moscow Sweepstakes

Jockeying for position to become Leonid Brezhnev’s successor as the ruler of Russia goes on at full speed. Andrei Kirilenko had been tagged as the “sure” candidate to take over from Brezhnev, even though the two men are the same age, 75. However, Kirilenko’s own health is said to have deteriorated severely in the past few months. His public appearances have become rare. And recently he failed to sign the obituary in Pravda of a regional Communist Party official, the only one of the 13 members of the Politburo—of which he is the senior member—not to do so. As he wanes, so wax the fortunes of two new rivals for the throne of Lenin, Konstantin Chernenko and Yuri Andropov. Chernenko is a member of Brezhnev’s personal cabinet and would represent continuity in the government. But Andropov, who is only 68, is drawing ahead in the betting. He resigned as chief of the secret police (KGB) last May to enter the Party secretariat. He would probably be a tough boss because of his KGB background, observers think, while as an admirer of the Hungarian “experiment,” he would initiate more rational economic leadership. The world will know more after November 7, when the Soviet hierarchy assembles above Lenin’s tomb for the traditional military parade in Red Square. Often an important source of power information in the past, this extraordinary lineup may continue to indicate the evolution of power in Moscow as clearly as anything else.