In January 1987 Communist Party (CPSU) General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev announced the new policy of demokratizatsiya (democratization).

The concept was introduced by Gorbachev to enable him to circumvent the CPSU hardliners who resisted his perestroika and glasnost reform campaigns, while still maintaining the Soviet Union as a one-party communist state.

[1] The 2,250 members of the CPD consisted of 1,500 directly elected from single-member constituencies by the two-round system and 750 seats reserved for public bodies.

[3] Of the 750 reserved for public bodies, 100 were elected by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, 100 by the CPSU, 75 by the Committee of Soviet Women, 75 by Komsomol and 325 by other bodies,[1] including the Academy of Sciences, the All-Union Voluntary Temperance Society, artistic unions and collective farm associations.

[3] This was followed by a caucus meeting, at which candidates had to receive support from at least 50% of those present, before proceeding to the final stage, where they had to be approved by district electoral assemblies formed by worker collectives.

[4] Yuri Soloyov, head of the CPSU in Leningrad lost despite being the only candidate, as did leader of Kyiv City Council Valentyn Zghursky.

[1] Although hardliners retained control of the chamber, the reformers used the legislature as a platform to debate and criticize the Soviet system, with the state media broadcasting their comments live and uncensored on television.

Yeltsin managed to secure a seat on the working Supreme Soviet, which was elected in the first session on 25 May and met for the first time on 3 June.