A radical reform economist, Gavriil Popov, was elected Moscow's mayor Friday by the new city council, the official Tass news agency reported. The city council was dominated by reformers in recent elections, which were the first multi-candidate elections for local representative bodies in the Soviet Union. The split between progressives and their opponents on the council was reflected in the 280-162 vote for Popov. He has captured national attention for his leadership of the country's first parliamentary opposition group, the progressive InterRegional Group of the Congress of People's Deputies. Soviet officials are allowed to hold two elected posts simultaneously. The election of the 54-year-old reformer portends drastic change for the Soviet capital, which has fallen into extreme disrepair under decades of neglect. He strongly supports a market economy and has suggested rationing during the transition period to allocate scarce items fairly. In a nationally televised speech in December, Popov harshly criticized Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov's economic reform plan for continuing central planning for five more years. He noted it went so far into micro-management as to set the number of eggs to be produced per person. Popov suggested that if bureaucrats want to increase egg production, they should raise chickens. Popov is a member of the Communist Party, but as a supporter of the Democratic Platform wing he is in danger of being ousted by hard-liners.
