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The 19th All-Union Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: A Milestone in the Development of Perestroika
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14905 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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Date : |
10 / 1988 |
9,662 Words |
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Rolf H.W. Theen
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In June 28, 1988, an event of potentially historic significance took place in Moscow: For the first time since 1941, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) convened a national party conference "to extensively review the course of the implementation of the decisions of the 27th CPSU Congress and sum up the results of the first half of the [current] five-year plan period," which runs to 1990. When, in January 1987, Gorbachev first proposed the resurrection of this institution after forty-seven years, he added that "it would also be logical for the conference to discuss ways to further democratize the life of the Party and society as a whole." The convening of an All-Union Party Conference in and of itself, he observed, "would be a serious step toward making our Party life more democratic in practice and developing the activity of communists."
The convocation of an All-Union Party Conference, including the agenda proposed by Gorbachev, was approved by the CPSU Central Committee on June 26, 1987 at its regular plenary meeting. The Central Committee set the date for the conference and established the rules for the election of delegates--one delegate per 3,780 party members--with the delegates to be chosen in secret elections at plenums of the Communist Parties of the union republics, krai (territorial) and oblast (regional) party committees, to be held in April and May of 1988. In the case of the Communist Parties of the Ukraine, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhastan, delegates were to be elected at plenary meetings of the oblast party committees. Delegates representing units of the Soviet army, navy, internal and border troops, likewise were to be elected at plenums of the central committees, territorial and regional party committees, together with the other delegates. And, finally delegates of units of the Soviet Army and Navy serving abroad were to be elected at conferences of the corresponding military formations.
Why did the pragmatic and supremely self-confident general secretary of the Soviet Union find it necessary, desirable, or expedient to revive an archaic party institution that had been all but forgotten--except, perhaps, by party historians and, as it turns out, the resourceful Gorbachev? The architect of perestroika, it appears, had several reasons for convening a national party conference in 1988--three years into his administration: (1) To further consolidate his political position; (2) to obtain an even stronger mandate for change and reform and, in particular, for his program of perestroika; (3) to effect changes in the structure and modus operandi of the CPSU through the introduction of changes in the party rules; (4) to redefine the role of the party in Soviet life--in
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