The plena of February and March 1990 set the scene for the preparations for the XXVIII Congress of the party and for continuing debate about the party's identity. The February plenum had adopted the draft Platform for discussion prior to and at the Congress. The March plenum had brought the date of the congress forward to 2 July, adopted a draft agenda, set out the provisions for the election of delegates, and adopted the draft party Rules and a draft decision on the Central Control and Auditing Commission (CCC) for discussion both before and at the congress. In addition, the former plenum accepted the elimination of the party's constitutionally entrenched monopoly position, and the latter plenum made provision for the convening of a conference of the party organisations of Russia before the party congress. The decisions of these plena provided the formal basis for debate within the party in the months leading up to the congress.

The critical nature of the party's situation was again made clear by its performance in the elections to local and republican Soviets in early 1990. Although in numerical terms it was able to dominate the newly elected Soviets in many parts of the country, Uzbekistan was a case in point, the party suffered clear defeats in the two most important city Soviets in the country, Moscow and Leningrad.