alternatehistory.com

By the time of the 32nd Party Congress in 2011, Alexander Rutskoy had led the Soviet Union for 12 years, the longest tenure of any Soviet leader since Leonid Brezhnev. The loss of Soviet prestige following the Bern Accords had been somewhat offset by the success of quashing ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus and the easing of the dire economic situation somewhat as a result of reduced military spending throughout most of the post-Bern period. Despite the resumption of power by hardliners following Gorbachev's ouster, the success in the Caucasus and the small improvement in the overall Soviet economy during the Rutskoy years, the General Secretary's placement at the top of the Soviet hierarchy was not viewed as stable by Kremlinologists, who believed that the party might be looking at a more collective leadership in the Chinese model and seek to replace Rutskoy with a younger man.

These predictions proved incorrect as Rutskoy presided over his third party congress as General Secretary and saw the sidelining of several possible replacements, including Rutskoy's own popular Minister of Defense Alexander Lebed, who was moved instead to run the Siberian krai of Krasnoyarsk. It seems that instead Rutskoy has consolidated his popularity among the conservative/hard-line faction that controls a majority of the Politburo and is seemingly secure at least for the near future.



The results of the 2014 legislative elections were, like all elections in communist nations, predetermined. The CPSU won roughly 70% of seats in both houses of the Supreme Soviet and "independents" were given the remainder. Many of the Communist members of the rubber stamp legislature were present for the 33rd Party Congress in 2016, where Rutskoy again presided as General Secretary. Despite being the last party congress before the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, journalists who covered the event noted less celebration of the Marxist-Leninist system than had been present at previous party congresses and more focus on "restoring the honor of the Soviet Union"...