MOSCOW : A New Party Convenes
The next battleground for the radicals and conservatives vying for power in the Kremlin will be the founding conference, starting today, of the new Russian Communist Party.
With nearly 60% of the Soviet Communist Party’s 18 million members, Russia--one of the Soviet Union’s 15 constituent republics--has never before had a separate republican party organization. But now President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has thrown his weight behind the idea in an effort to preempt conservative opponents to his perestroika reform program, who have threatened to form their own, independent republican communist party as a base from which to challenge him.
Gorbachev is expected to address the session, which is seen as an important preliminary to a crucial all-union Soviet Communist Party congress to open July 2.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
