Congress of People's Deputies

Origins

The Congress grew out of Gorbachev's reform agenda, which sought to separate party and state and to isolate conservative opponents. At the 19th CPSU Conference in June–July 1988 a course of political reform was announced, and at the Supreme Soviet's session of 29 November – 1 December 1988 the constitutional amendment establishing the Congress was adopted. A law on the election of people's deputies of the USSR was passed on 1 December 1988. This placed a new body above the Supreme Soviet, which had been the highest organ of state authority since the 1936 constitution.

Elections and composition

The first election was held on 26 March 1989. Unlike earlier Soviet elections, multiple candidates per seat were allowed, so positions ranging from Communist to pro-Western were represented, with a turnout of 89.8%. Of the 2,250 deputies, 750 seats were reserved for public organizations: 100 for the CPSU, 100 for the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, 75 for Komsomol, 75 for the Soviet Women's Committee, 75 for the war and labour veterans' organisation, and 325 for other organizations. The public-organization quota was criticized for violating the principle of one voter, one vote, since a voter could belong to the CPSU, the trade unions and other bodies at the same time.

Sessions and debate

The Congress met five times in all: the first from 25 May to 9 June 1989 and the fifth from 2 to 5 September 1991, with the fourth on 17–26 December 1990. The first session was televised live and watched by millions; deputies used their freedom of speech to criticize the state of the USSR, and reports noted industrial output declining as people watched. At that first session the Congress elected a 542-member Supreme Soviet from 573 candidates, and the new Council of Ministers headed by Nikolai Ryzhkov was announced on 21 July.

Dissolution and aftermath

On 5 September 1991 the V Congress adopted a Declaration of the Rights and Freedoms of Man, declared a transitional period and, on Gorbachev's proposal, effectively dissolved itself by passing a law on organs of state power in the transitional period; deputies rejected the clause barring further congresses. After the Belovezha accords, deputies tried to convene an emergency VI Congress; 397 deputies signed the appeal, but the attempted congress at Voronovo on 17 March 1992 failed for lack of quorum, with only about 200 present.

Distinctions

The Congress is distinct from the Supreme Soviet, the highest organ of state authority from 1936 to 1991. With the creation of the Congress in 1989, the Supreme Soviet became a smaller working legislature of 542 deputies elected by the Congress and divided into two 271-member chambers. It is also a different institution from the Congress of Soviets, formally the supreme governing body of the USSR from 30 December 1922 until the 1936 constitution, and the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation, convened in 1990 with 1,068 deputies, is an example of the model being copied at republican level. On the number of sessions the sources differ: English-language accounts list only four, omitting the December 1990 session, while Russian-language accounts record five.