The 19th All-Union Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was a party conference held by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 28 June to 1 July 1988. [1] The conference was attended by 4,991 delegates. [2]
The General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, declared in his opening speech that political reform was the key issue. [2] [3] Gorbachev wanted to achieve the " democratization of the life of the state and society", and wanted the Soviet Union to "move along the path of the creation of a socialist state under the rule of law". [4]
The Conference called for elections for the governmental soviets at all levels, with secret ballots and multiple candidacies, and it established the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union. [2]
Although Gorbachev had to compromise on some of his several objectives because of conservative resistance, the conference was a significant victory for Gorbachev. [2]