APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110019-3
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FIGURE 1. Party and government leadership (U/OU) (chart)
slate ballot. Prior to 1965, the voters could only approve or disapprove the entire slate. That year the ballot was expanded to include more candidates than seats available and the voter was permitted to select the "candidate of his choice" from a longer list of National Front-approved candidates. Furthermore, it was decreed in 1965 that a third of the membership of the People's Chamber must be replaced every 4 years. Despite the fact that East Berlin has not been formally incorporated into the German Democratic Republic, the city is represented in the People's Chamber by 66 deputies. Their special status is partially maintained, however, by the fact that they are elected by the East Berlin Assembly and not directly by the people.
The regime's control of the People's Chamber extends also to the legislative process, which similarly includes constitutional prerogatives that in practice are not exercised. According to the 1968 constitution, only the People's Chamber can adopt a constitution and laws, and nobody may restrict this right. It may introduce legislation and pass on most legislative matters, including those introduced by itself, the executive branch, or local governments. It is further empowered to decide on the constitutionality of laws, to elect the members of the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the National Defense Council, and the Supreme Court, and to appoint the Prosecutor General. The People's Chamber approves the conclusion or cancellation of state agreements and determines the state of defense of the German Democratic Republic. In practice, however, the SED makes all such decisions which, through the system of interlocking directorates, are usually proposed to the People's Chamber by the Council of Ministers. Thus, the "initiatives" of the People's Chamber become mere ratifications, and the legislative body is used by the SED primarily as a forum to promulgate the party line.
In contrast to the marginal role assigned to the People's Chamber by the SED under Walter Ulbricht,
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110019-3
