Erich Honecker and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the regime's number-two man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck. The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the
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