Draft Program for Communist Plenum Commits Party to Deep Democratization

THE draft program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) which is to be discussed at the plenum of the Central Committee on July 25-26 was published in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper) on July 23. The following is a brief summary.* Principles: "No responsible political organization should establish as its goal a compulsory transformation of society....The CPSU, expressing the interests of the working people, acts today as the party of democratic reforms, the party of political and economic freedom, the party of social justice and all-human values." * Urgent goals: The building of a law-governed state, the development of democratic institutions, including the multiparty system of political representation, the division of powers and safeguarding civil rights. A transition toward a mixed economy with a variety and equality of different forms of property including private property. Formation of a regulated market economy, overcome inflation, create a convertible ruble, and transfer to free prices. * The role of the party: The party must undergo "deep democratization" taking into account the new realities. "The guarantee of inner-party democracy is the recognition of the right of each member of the party to freely express his own position on any question of life of society, to believe or to be an atheist. ...The party forever excludes from its arsenal the principle - the end justifies the means." "We are going to act exclusively by legal, political means, within the framework of parliamentary democracy. ...The development of humane and democratic socialism is inseparable from worldwide progress that leads to the formation of a new civilization."