 Brezhnev conspired to oust Podgorny as early as 1970 . The reason was simple : Brezhnev was third , while Podgorny was first in the ranking of Soviet diplomatic protocol . Since September 1970 Brezhnev tried to form an opposition in the Politburo to oust Podgorny . According to Time , " There was some speculation in Moscow " that if Brezhnev didn 't succeed in removing Podgorny he would establish a Council of State modelled after institutions found in , for example , East Germany ( Staatsrat ) , People 's Republic of Bulgaria and the Socialist Republic of Romania . The post of Chairman of the Council of State would give Brezhnev the top state and party job in the USSR . Brezhnev 's backers were unable , and didn 't even try , to remove Podgorny from the head of state post at the 1970 Central Committee plenum . Brezhnev could count on only five votes , while another seven Politburo members were opposed to granting Brezhnev more power ; removing Podgorny would in fact mean the end of the collective leadership . 
