Laws to Fit the Land

Despite its repressive character, East Germany's Communist regime has had a constitution for years that embodied most of the liberal concepts of Western democracies. Drafted in 1949, when the Communists hoped to impose it on a reunified Germany, the constitution contained sections on human rights and religious freedom that were designed to allay the fears of nonCommunists. Not surprisingly, East German Party Boss Walter Ulbricht never bothered to put those provisions into practice. Last week, in the first referendum ever held in East Germany, citizens dutifully approved a new constitution that is more in line with the totalitarian nature of the regime.

Ominous Omissions. Drawn up under the personal supervision of Ulbricht, the new document is a monument to his tough brand of Communism. It empowers the Council of State, of which Ulbricht is the chief, to veto any decisions by other government branches, including those of the courts. Slavishly socialist, it pledges eternal devotion to the Soviet Union and declares that East Germany has the responsibility to lead the rest of Germany "into a future of peace and Socialism." Formally establishing the old Marxist goal of the dictatorship of the proletariat, it states that "all political power is exercised by the working class"--which means, of course, the Communist Party. In a tacit reference to the Wall, the new document confines freedom of movement for East Germany's 17 million people to the country's boundaries. In hopes of easing East Germany's labor shortage, it declares that all citizens have the duty to work.

Ulbricht's new constitution is more ominous for what it omits. The new document has dropped entirely the sections from the 1949 law that guaranteed freedom of artistic expression, academic pursuits and scientific inquiry. The 1949 constitution spelled out in detail the rights of both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches to give religious instruction in schools, enjoy state protection of religious ceremonies and receive financial support through government-collected taxes. But the new constitution makes no mention whatsoever of the rights of churches. Many East German Protestants fear that Ulbricht will use this ambiguity as a lever to force them to break away entirely from their West German brethren, thus severing the last major formal link between the two Germanys.

Obvious Attempt. East Germans had expected Ulbricht to present his new set of laws at the very earliest on June 30, when he celebrates his 75th birthday. His haste to push the constitution through at the earliest possible date is an obvious attempt to buttress his own position at a time when change and unrest are sweeping over his two closest Communist neighbors, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The last surviving Stalinist ruler in the Soviet bloc, Ulbricht feels ill at ease and isolated. As matters stand today in Eastern Europe, his introduction of such a backward-looking document may make him feel even lonelier.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.