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Though Gorbachev remains head of the party, he is investing the office of the President with precisely those powers that he hopes will allow him to control the centrifugal forces pulling the Soviet Union apart. As chairman of the Defense Council, he is already commander in chief of the armed forces. But the new law passed last week will formalize the President's control not only of the military but also of Interior Ministry troops and the KGB. He will appoint and preside over the Cabinet of Ministers, declare emergencies and martial law, issue executive orders, veto laws and dissolve the legislature. One of the debaters who annoyed Gorbachev last week, Sergei Stankevich, a liberal Moscow Deputy, said, "We can still feel the great totalitarian tradition in this country." The President responded, "It has nothing to do with Gorbachev's power. What does Gorbachev have to do with it? Life has brought us to this point, nothing else."
His meaning was perfectly evident to delegates from the rebellious Baltics. They refused to participate in the voting, arguing that because they will soon be independent they should not take part in creating new Soviet institutions. After the session, Gorbachev invited six Baltic delegates to his office to explain their position to him. He then told them he stood firmly on his plan to create a new federation and would stick to it in future negotiations with the Baltic states. Said Estonian journalist Tarmu Tammerk: "This was the first time he has admitted that Baltic independence is something we can legitimately talk about."
Gorbachev's reach for such extraordinary powers prompted Lithuanian leaders to advance to March 4 runoff elections in 20 of the 51 undecided districts. That will enable them to convene the new Lithuanian Supreme Soviet before Gorbachev is officially invested with his new powers at a Congress of People's Deputies session scheduled to begin on March 12. Reflecting on the possible threat of martial law, Cekuolis said, "We want to keep one jump ahead of Moscow." The republic's president and Communist Party chief, Algirdas Brazauskas, called on Moscow to begin independence negotiations "in the near future" to establish "stable international relations and economic cooperation between the U.S.S.R. and Lithuania."
While the Lithuanian parliament has set up a committee to draft a declaration of independence, some nationalists favor a statement that Lithuania remains a sovereign state that has been occupied by the Soviet Union for 50 years. This would establish a firm legal basis for the independence decree and also allow Lithuanians to claim the republic's property, including 95 factories that still obey orders from ministries in Moscow. Before taking such a step, however, some Sajudis leaders would prefer to hold a referendum, in which they estimate about 75% would favor independence.