MOSCOW : Challenge To Gorbachev
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s comrades in the Communist Party are expected to submit his five-year record as Soviet leader to days of bruising criticism as a national party congress charts the future of both the party and society at a time of plummeting economic performance and spreading discontent.
The congress has the power to name the party leadership, and conservatives may nominate their own candidate to challenge Gorbachev, the party’s general secretary since 1985. He has made it clear that he wants to retain the No. 1 party job along with the Soviet presidency.
The congress, the first since 1986, will also debate to what degree the Communist Party should democratize its internal procedures.
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