Rumania: Winner Take All

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Ever since he came to power in 1965, Rumania's Communist Party Secretary-General Nicolae Ceausescu, 49, has been losing patience with his older, more doctrinaire and often incompetent party colleagues. Steadily, Ceausescu (TIME cover, March 18, 1966) strengthened his position in the government and gathered younger and more liberal men around him. Last week, at a national party conference in Bucharest, he finally threw off the mantle of Rumania's "collective leadership" and took over the presidency himself. He also did away with "parallel" party and government jobs at the local level, reshuffled the Rumanian hierarchy and put some of the Old Guard out to pasture. Among the losers was Ceausescu's only challenger for power in the past, ex-Police Chief Alexandru Draghici, who was dropped as a Party Secretary and became one of several deputy premiers.

Ceausescu no doubt wanted the presidency partly because it would give him more stature when traveling abroad. It would also make it easier for him to visit non-Communist countries. He has gradually moved Rumania away from Moscow's orbit and toward closer ties with the West, and last week publicly criticized Russia for hampering trade relations in retaliation for Rumania's independent stance.