Politburo. Report about the founding congress of the “Democratic Russia” movement and its anti-Communist stance. [R 24 Oct 90, 7 pp – Pb 1193] 7 pp. (excerpt).

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[page one of seven]

No Pb 1193
24 October 1990

To Members of the CPSU Central Committee Politburo,
Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee,
members of the USSR President’s council, plus Comrades Pugo and Orlov

Information from Comrade Polozkov about the founding congress
of the Democratic Russia movement (20-21 October 1990)

Print 60 copies

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[Page two]

Return to the CPSU Central Committee (General Department, 1st sector) PB-1193 [vertical text on left margin – Return within 15 days]

Sent to Politburo members, Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee
and members of the USSR President’s council

To the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee

The congress was attended by 1,270 delegates from 73 regions and autonomous republics, and representatives of parties, non-governmental organisations and movements opposed to the CPSU: the Democratic Party of Russia, the Social Democratic Party of the Russian Federation, the Democratic Platform, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Peasants’ Party of Russia, the Party of Free Labour, the Russian Christian Democratic Movement, April [writer’s organisation], the Conference of Labour, Memorial, the Association of Leaseholders, the Young Russia organisation, Shield [army organisation] and others.

Twenty-three USSR People’s Deputies, 104 RSFSR People’s Deputies, deputies from Mossoviet and Lensoviet and other local soviets took part in the work of the Congress. More than 200 guests were invited to the congress from the union republics, and also from the USA, Britain, FRG, France, Japan, Poland and the Czechoslovak Republic. The work of the congress was covered by about 300 Soviet and foreign correspondents.

The main attention of the congress was on the organisational strengthening of the democratic movement in its struggle against “the monopoly of the CPSU on power”, the creation of an information network of democratic forces and their political infrastructure, the activisation of the masses and the holding of joint protests with other opposition movements.

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The organising centre of all the work of the founding congress of the Democratic Russia movement were the USSR People’s Deputies Yu[ry]Afanasyev and A[arkady] Murashov, and the RSFSR People’s Deputies V. Dmitriev, V. Lysenko and L[ev] Ponomaryov.

The discussion was chaotic, anti-democratic and the established procedures were [often] infringed. The distinguishing feature of the congress was its rabid anti-communism. Strategy and tactics were developed for removing the CPSU from the political arena and the dismantling of the existing State and political system. […]

The congress exposed the contradictory nature of the movement. From the very beginning a difference was revealed between representatives of the parties taking part in the work of the congress. These differences and contradictions did not extend beyond the limits of the anti-communist platform that united them all, and mainly concerned personal ambitions and claims to leadership. […]

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[…] There were unbridled attacks at the congress on the USSR President M.S. Gorbachev, the chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet A.I. Lukyanov, the chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers N.I. Ryzhkov, the chairman of the USSR KGB V.A. Kryuchkov and the USSR Minister of Defence D.T. Yazov …

[…] The harsh and uncompromising tone of the documents adopted by the congress is noteworthy. In essence, all of them are a call for confrontation, civil disobedience and a further destabilisation of the situation within the country.

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An analysis of the documents adopted by the founding congress, the nature of the speeches, the entire atmosphere of the congress and campaign that led up to its opening provide irrefutable evidence that a united bloc of anti-socialist, anti-communist forces has been created to undermine the socio-political foundations of the country, seize power and remove the CPSU from the political arena. […]

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[page seven]

Member of the CPSU Central Committee Politburo
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the RSFSR Communist Party

I. Polozkov

Print 60 copies

24 October 1990

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NOTES

This report may be compared to that by Kryuchkov two years earlier on a conference in Moscow of the Memorial Society (16 November 1988*, 1979-K).

General

1. Notes by translator and editor are bracketed, thus [ ];
2. text written by hand is indicated in italic script;
3. when a handwritten phrase, figure or word has been added
to a previously typed document this is indicated by underlined italic script.

Tr. JC