ABSTRACT
In February 1990, the USSR Supreme Soviet approved Gorbachev's proposal to establish an Office of the President. Within a matter of weeks, the USSR Congress of People's Deputies amended the Soviet constitution accordingly. What emerged at first was not an "executive" presidency but a unique, embryonic structure designed to place the focus of national leadership on a single individual. The Soviet president, according to the new Law on the Presidency, was to be chosen to a five-year term in a nationwide election with universal suffrage. The new law gave the Soviet president wide-ranging responsibilities, including the power to propose and veto legislation, to appoint Government officials, to act as the nation's top representative abroad, to sign international treaties, and to oversee the nation's defense. The law also allowed the Cabinet to issue decrees and resolutions, but they were far narrower in scope than those of the old Council of Ministers.
