echnique of
the party conference rather than a special party congress in order to
have his proposals approved by a larger body than the Central Committee.
At the same time, he wanted to avoid the requirement of having to elect
a new Central Committee, which would have been the case had a congress
been held.

In his address to the conference, Ceausescu declared that in order to
modernize Romania as a socialist state it was imperative to adopt new
organizational and ideological forms. To achieve this end, he proposed a
number of reforms in the structure and functioning of both the party and
the government and defended the country's policy of independent
development. Speaking of the relationship between party and government
responsibilities, Ceausescu asserted the need to eliminate overlapping
and duplication in party and government functions. As a remedy, he
proposed that only one individual, whether in the party or in the
government, should deal with a particular sector of activity. In
addition, he called for a clearer delineation of the responsibilities of
the government and the party. It was not necessary, he declared, for the
Central Committee to decide all questions of economic affairs and
continue to maintain a number of economic departments that duplicated
the functions of the Council of Ministers and the economic ministries.
He proposed that the Central Committee limit itself to basic decisions
of economic policy and that the specific matters of implementation be
left to the government ministries.

Political and ideological activity, Ceausescu proposed, would remain
under the control of the Central Committee and would be given greater
emphasis and direction through the creation of an ideological commission
that would work to develop an intensified program of political
education. A defense council, composed of the party's Standing Presidium
and other members, would be established to deal with most military
questions, but the basic questions of guidance for both the armed forces
and the state security apparatus would continue to be the responsibility
of the Central Committee. Major foreign policy questions would be
decided by the Standing Presidium (see ch. 8).

Ceausescu also proposed reforms in the organization and responsibilities
of governmental organs. In addition to proposing a reorganization of the
state's territorial subdivisions, he asserted the need to broaden the
activities of the Grand National Assemb