ABSTRACT
Frustrated by the slow pace of reform and unable either to combat the opposition within the party, especially in the Central Committee and the party apparatus, or to transform his economic and political reforms from mere words into tangible results, Mikhail Gorbachev decided at the beginning of 1987 to revive a long-forgotten party forum—the All-Union Party Conference. Traceable {like so many of Gorbachevs ideas) to Lenin, the party conference was once an extraordinary party forum that convened in the intervals between regular party congresses to address pressing economic and political issues that could not be delayed until the next regular congress. Perhaps because the conference was conceived as an instrument that the top leadership could employ during unexpected or unusual situations, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Statute provides no precise definition of the functions of the conference, nor does it lay down any rules of procedure or list its powers. In fact, all these matters are left to the discretion of the CPSU Central Committee. The only sentence in the CPSU Statute that mentions the All-Union Party Conference reads: "Between party congresses the Central Committee of the CPSU may, if necessary, convene a country-wide party conference to discuss pressing matters of party policy. The procedure for holding the party conference is determined by the CPSU Central Committee." 1
