The invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact) in August 1968 posed a crisis to the Ceausescu regime and raised the possibility of Soviet intervention in Romania. Ceausescu's firm denunciation of the invasion, however, served to unify the population behind him. His call for national mobilization and the creation of a home guard for national defense elicited broad popular support and gained him stature as the defender of Romanian independence.
In late 1968 the PCR leadership acted to establish a new national political organization, the Socialist Unity Front, in order to bring representatives of the major mass organizations and other associations into a party-dominated framework for the political mobilization of the population (see ch. 8). As a replacement for the older and largely ineffective People's Democratic Front, the new front organization was structured around a national council and, theoretically, was given advisory powers on important policy matters.
In addition to the PCR, the Socialist Unity Front's National Council included representatives of: labor unions; cooperative farmers' organizations; consumers' cooperatives; professional, cultural, and scientific associations; women's youth, and veterans' organizations; religious bodies; and the councils of the Hungarian, German, Serbian, and Ukrainian minorities. Ceausescu was elected president of the front, and Maurer, the vice president.
The first major activity of the Socialist Unity Front was the conducting of national elections on March 2, 1969. As only the front was allowed to nominate candidates, just one candidate was named for each Grand National Assembly seat. The official results indicated that over 99 percent of the eligible voters cast their ballots and, of these, 99.75 percent endorsed the Socialist Unity Front slate. Elections to the newly organized bodies of local government took place at the same time (see ch. 8).
Convening ten days after the election, the new Grand National Assembly reelected Ceausescu as president of the Council of State and renamed Maurer as prime minister. At the same time, the assembly enacted legislation establishing the Defense Council that Ceausescu had earlier proposed. Observers of East European political affairs considered the timing of this enactment, coming just three days before an important meeting of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, as a further assertion of Romania's independent course in international affairs (see ch. 10).
The Tenth Party Congress
Almost 2,000 delegates attended the Tenth Party Congress of the PCR held in Bucharest from August 6 to 12, 1969. In addition, delegations were present from sixty-six foreign communist parties (see ch. 10). The main features of the congress included Ceausescu's unanimous reelection as general secretary of the party for a five-year term, the enlargement of the Central Committee from 121 to 165 members, and the approval of revisions of the party statutes.
Among other things, the statute revisions provided for the election of the Central Committee by secret ballot and transferred the responsibility for electing the general secretary from the Central Committee to the party congress. It was also decided that party congresses would be convened every five years rather than every four so that each congress could discuss and adopt a five-year economic plan for the country. A unique feature of the congress was the division of the delegates into five working commissions, with their sessions open to foreign journalists.
When it came time for the congress to elect the Central Committee, nearly half of the remaining older members were replaced by younger men who were supporters of Ceausescu. Apostol and Stoica were conspicuously not reelected and, immediately after the congress, Apostol was discharged from his position as chairman of the General Union of Trade Unions after being charged with "serious breaches of Communist morality."
Although the modifications in the party statutes were designed to allow for more democratic procedures in party affairs, the principle of centralized control continued to be strongly maintained. Whereas all party members were encouraged to voice their opinions on any given issue, once a decision was adopted the minority was expected to yield to the majority and aid in implementation of policies. The congress resolved that party control and ideological guidance must reach into all aspects of the life of the people.