General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union more than determine party membership composition. Stalin, its first incumbent, used the principles of democratic centralism to transform his office into that of party leader, and later leader of the Soviet Union. In 1934, the 17th Party Congress refrained from formally re-electing Stalin as General Secretary. However, Stalin was re-elected into all other positions and remained leader of the party without diminishment. In the 1950s, Stalin increasingly withdrew from Secretariat business, leaving the supervision of the body to Georgy Malenkov, possibly to test him as a potential successor. In October 1952, at the 19th Party Congress, Stalin restructured the party's
First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union of Ministers. The Presidium was later expanded to include individuals hand-picked by the Premier. A decree had to be signed by the Premier or a First Deputy Premier, and in the case of the Premier's absence a First Deputy Premier would assume the duties of the Premier. The First Deputy Prime Ministers () were members of the Cabinet of Ministers (), the executive and administrative body that replaced the Council of Ministers in 1990. First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union The First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union, also known as First Vice Premier of the Soviet Union, was