F. Germany Picks Reformist Premier

BERLIN--East Germany's Parliament elected a leading reformer as the new premier last night, but hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Leipzig to say Communist reforms are moving too slowly.

After a historic weekend in which millions of East Germans took advantage of their new freedom to travel west, Parliament also picked a non-Communist speaker in the chamber's first secret ballot and urged accelerated changes.

And the government said it was dismantling internal barriers that for three decades formed a notorious "death strip" between the Berlin Wall and the city's sealed-off eastern sector.

Deputies appealed for truly free elections, a coalition government and removal from the constitution of language declaring their nation a socialist state.

The parliament, known as the People's Chamber, then approved the Communist Party's nomination of Politburo member Hans Modrow to lead a new government as premier. The government traditionally has been subservient to the party.

Modrow is a well-known reformer within the party, which has been led by Egon Krenz since October 18. Krenz has promised some reforms, including free elections.

Meanwhile, West German television estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 pro-democracy activists demonstrated in Leipzig, in the center of the country, pressing for continued change to prolong the spirit of hope sweeping the nation.

"Open borders by themselves cannot be the only freedom," warned a banner carried by some in the crowd.

The protesters urged the government to live up to its promise of free elections and questioned the commitment of the new leadership.

"The question is, are you [the new government] really different from the others?" one speaker said at the rally.

At the session to approve Modrow, the first secret balloting in the Communist-dominated Parliament elected a new speaker, Guenther Maleuda, who told the assembly it was duty-bound to heed the calls of the reform movement.

Maleuda, 58, is chair of the Democratic Peasants party, one of the four small parties allied with the ruling Communists. The Communist Party did not propose a candidate for the post.