Gorbachev Speech to the Supreme Soviet

Mikhail Gorbachev, Speech to the Supreme Soviet. October 2, 1988

Excerpts

Original Source: Pravda, 2 October 1988.

... We have a thoroughly worked-out strategy and a well thought-out program of restructuring, one gained through much suffering, I might say. It has been set forth in the decisions of the 27th CPSU Congress and of the subsequent plenary sessions of the Central Committee and, finally, in the decisions of the 19th Party Conference. Our goals and tasks have been set, and the basic guidelines for practical activity are clear ...

The time has come when we can expect nothing from further instructions from above, when we must actively implement the adopted decisions everywhere: in every collective, in every city and village. Here a very important role belongs to the soviets, as genuine bodies of people's rule.

How do I imagine this role in practical terms? How do I see it being implemented today?

First of all, revive a Leninist spirit and style in the soviets. Make them both people's bodies and bodies of power, in the full sense of these words. Assertive, energetic, businesslike defenders of the interests of citizens. Powerful engines of the development of their villages, cities, districts, provinces and republics ...

In accordance with the decisions of the 19th Party Conference, the working out of draft laws of changes in and additions to the Constitution and on the election of USSR People's Deputies is nearing completion. In the near future, these draft laws will be submitted for broad nationwide discussion, and then, in November, we intend to present them to the Supreme Soviet for its consideration.

After these laws have been adopted, preparations will begin for elections to the country's supreme body of power. The newly elected Congress of People's Deputies will form a new structure of central state agencies. Then this work will be conducted in the republics and at the local level ...

Source: Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Vol. XL, No. 39 (October 26, 1988), pp. 5-6.