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The Soviet Union's lack of experience with the rough-and-tumble of democratic debate was obvious from the session's glitches. Deputies voted by waving white "mandate" cards in the air -- a feasible method for the near unanimous yea-or-nay votes of the past but hopelessly cumbersome in more evenly divided counts. Also noticeable were the usual inconveniences of the democratic process. Speakers were long-winded. When the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Pitirim, one of seven clergy elected to the Congress, suggested that voluble Deputies be silenced by having their microphones switched off, delegates applauded enthusiastically.
The ridiculous, the embarrassing, the surprising -- TV cameras were recording it all for the whole nation to see. Gorbachev served by turns as circus ringmaster, traffic cop and soothing conciliator. Lithuanian newspaper editor Algimantas Cekuolis expressed sympathy for the President's predicament: "He is trying to be very democratic, but it's not so easy without a tradition of democracy. To try not to boss us around is a hard job for him."
Among the more provocative moments for Gorbachev were repeated references to the deaths in Tbilisi, which he insisted he had learned about only after the fact. And Gorbachev sought to defuse delegate anger over an incident at Pushkin Square the evening after the Congress opened, when police encircled crowds of Soviets seeking to meet with Deputies.
During this week's sessions, elections are scheduled for the offices of Prime Minister -- expected to go to the current holder of that office, Nikolai Ryzhkov -- and First Vice President, a post that the ever ambitious Yeltsin has hinted he may covet. Just how the new Supreme Soviet will go about its work as a standing parliament must also be decided. More important, the composition of the Supreme Soviet suggests that Gorbachev will be working with a legislature that is not wildly enthusiastic about radical reform.