Still in Charge

Brezhnev waves to the crowd

Once again Leonid Brezhnev confounded the doomsayers who had placed him at death's door since he reportedly suffered a stroke five weeks ago. Making his second public appearance in nine days, the Soviet President stood for 1 1/2 hours on the reviewing stand atop the Lenin mausoleum on Red Square to watch the annual May Day parade. Wearing a gray overcoat and fedora as protection against a drizzling rain, the 75-year-old leader looked wan and weary as he waved weakly at the tens of thousands of Soviet citizens who marched by carrying banners, artificial flowers, red flags and posters bearing his portrait. After the nationally televised ceremonies, some Western correspondents glimpsed Brezhnev painfully making his way down the steps from the reviewing area, supported by an aide.

Meanwhile the Kremlin's top physician shed some light on Brezhnev's condition. In an exclusive interview with TIME'S Moscow bureau chief, Erik Amfitheatrof, Cardiologist Yevgeni Chazov, 53, scoffed at news stories in the West that Brezhnev had been felled by a stroke. Said the doctor: "He has been buried so many times by the foreign press that I have lost count." Chazov, who heads the medical team that treats all the Kremlin leaders, pointed out that he is bound by an oath of confidentiality as regards his patients--including the President. "American doctors would understand that perfectly," Chazov said. "They would also understand that if anyone were to reappear in public two weeks after a stroke--well, it could only be a miracle." Chazov was awarded the Lenin Prize last month for helping to develop a drug that quickly dissolves blood clots. When asked if the drug had lately been used on Brezhnev, the physician replied that "there was no need to."

Another Chazov patient who made a surprise May Day reappearance was Andrei Kirilenko, 75, who looked fit and vigorous as he watched the parade. The senior Politburo member, who had not been seen in public since Feb. 5, was rumored either to have been struck down by heart by heart disease or to be in disgrace. Kirilenko's appearance on the reviewing stand, two seats away from Brezhnev, revived longstanding speculation that he was next in line to succeed Brezhnev. Kirilenko's rival for the succession, Konstantin Chernenko, 70, who had occupied the pre-eminent place at Brezhnev's right hand during Kirilenko's absence, was also seated at two removes from the President on May Day. At Brezhnev's right was Premier Nikolai Tikhonov, 76, a dark horse in the Kremlin sweepstakes. Moscow Party Chief Viktor Grishin, 67, at Brezhnev's left, is widely regarded as a front runner.

The relative standing of the contenders for power in the Kremlin could be clarified at month's end when the Soviet leadership may convene for a Central Committee meeting devoted to the problems of the Soviet economy. According to official Soviet figures, 1982 got off to an inauspiciously slow start. The first quarter showed a dismal growth rate of 2.1%, well below the 4.7% Brezhnev hopes to achieve over the full year. qed

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