Erich Honecker agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of “Are there any suggestions for the agenda?” Stoph replied, "Please, General Secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as General Secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate". All those present
Economic System of Socialism those who opposed ESS for political reasons and those who opposed it for the disruptions it caused to the economy. His main opponents were Erich Honecker, Willi Stoph and Alfred Neumann. In May 1970 Ulbricht was removed from his power and left with a purely ceremonial role as the Chairman of the State Council of GDR until his death on 1973. In 1971 Honecker put forward a new program that called for the “unity of economic and social policy” by building a socialist working class state where the economy is put to the service of political goals. The goal of