NATIONALISTS BY ANY OTHER NAME

Moscow correspondent Yuri Zarakhovich says that the election of a former communist does not mean a return to communism in Russia's former satellite: "Communists in Poland really are Social Democrats, and there is no room in their system for old-style communists. There is room in the Russian system, and Russian communists will do well in the December 17 parliamentary elections." Zarakhovich notes that Russia's communists are primarily nationalists; they appeal to a large number of people frustrated by Russia's decline in world prominence and the slow pace of the transition to a market economy. "Economic reform has basically failed in Russia," Zarakhovich says. "The state is still everywhere; those who have been trying hard to work honestly are caught between the state and the mob. There is great frustration in Moscow, and even more when you get outside the cities. The people there are really dependent on their local governments. People haven't been paid in months, and they're starving. Ten years ago people couldn't eat because food was not available. Today the food is available, but nobody can afford to buy it."