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A. I think he should be. This is my opinion. I think elections should be universal, equal, by direct and secret vote between alternative candidates, from the bottom to the top, including the election of the Chairman of the Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet.
Q. Would you be willing to run for this office?
A. I am not an alternative candidate to Gorbachev. I accept Gorbachev as a leader.
Q. What if there were no Gorbachev?
A. Why discuss it? Gorbachev is there.
Q. You have said there was a "Mafia" that tried to block your reforms when you were first secretary of the Moscow party committee. How did it operate?
A. I think you in America have quite enough experience in this area, so you must know its methods better than I do. The Mafia in the Soviet Union is a long way from being as strong and influential as it is in America. Our Mafia does not have as much experience as yours.
Q. What policy differences do you have with Gorbachev?
A. None in foreign policy, but some things in domestic policy. The official view is that perestroika must be pushed forward in every direction, that it must embrace everything. But I believe we don't have enough options and resources for this. We are not mature enough. We have not yet gone through psychological restructuring in regard to the democratization of society. So we have to move forward by stages. I favor this approach. One stage yields one result, then the next stage yields another, thus forming a chain of restructuring. Of course, one of the first links in the whole chain is that of the political system. Starting here, we must then improve living standards and concentrate our resources on this, even if it means reducing investments, financial allocations or expenditures in other areas, so that people can come to believe in the process. Psychologically, we have certainly started to live slightly better, and that's perestroika. But by heading off in every direction at once, as we have been doing for 3 1/2 years, we have hardly made any progress at all as far as the standard of living is concerned.
Q. Perhaps things have got even worse?
A. Perhaps they have in some regions, though it depends where.
Q. Why is the Soviet economy in such a mess?
A. That's too broad a question. It is probably because we didn't fulfill the slogans we proclaimed in 1917: "Power to the Soviets," "Land to the peasants," "Factories to the workers," "Bread to the hungry." Authoritarian leadership and therefore a lack of democracy have led to a certain apathy among the people, to a sort of civil nihilism, a skepticism. And to all this we must add the mistakes of the cult of personality. That's just one part of the problem.