Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President—last held 14 March 1990 (next to be held NA 1995);
results—Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected by the Congress of
People's Deputies;
Congress of People's Deputies—last held 12 March 1990 (next to be held NA); results—CPSU is the only party; seats—(2,250 total) CPSU 1,931, non-CPSU 319;
USSR Supreme Soviet—last held NA June 1989 (next to be held NA); results—CPSU is the only party; seats—(542 total) CPSU 475, non-CPSU 67;
Council of the Union—last held Spring 1989 (next to be held NA); results—CPSU is the only party; seats—(271 total) CPSU 239, non-CPSU 32;
Council of Nationalities—last held Spring 1989 (next to be held NA); results—CPSU is the only party; seats—(271 total) CPSU 236, non-CPSU 35
Communists: about 19 million party members
Other political or pressure groups: Komsomol, trade unions, and other organizations that facilitate Communist control; regional popular fronts, informal organizations, and nascent parties with varying attitudes toward the Communist Party establishment
Member of: CEMA, ESCAP, IAEA, IBEC, ICAC, ICAO, ICCO, ICES, ILO,
ILZSG, IMO, INRO, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, International Whaling
Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Aleksandr BESSMERTNYKH; Chancery at 1125 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 628-7551 or 8548; there is a Soviet Consulate General in San Francisco; US—Ambassador Jack F. MATLOCK, Jr.; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23, Moscow (mailing address is APO New York 09862); telephone [7] (096) 252-24-51 through 59; there is a US Consulate General in Leningrad