ABSTRACT
The new Congress of People's Deputies (CPD) and the Supreme Soviet can be considered a type of matryoshka: a clever set of nested institutions that reflect changes in the political climate, were fun to look at, but served little practical purpose. The CPD consisted of 2250 deputies elected according to the following formula: 750 deputies from territorial districts, 750 from national-territorial districts, and 750 deputies from social organizations. Lukianov outlined for the Congress the mechanism at work in the preparatory period. References were made by deputies throughout the session to the role played by the 'party group,' a meeting of all Communist deputies held prior to the opening of the Congress. Republican, oblast, and other deputy groups also helped resolve a series of questions prior to the opening of the session. Mikhail S. Gorbachev devoted the second section of the speech to political reform.
