sentences:  One of the "bourgeois" features of the constitution (in Article 66) was the office of President, which was filled by Wilhelm Pieck, formerly the leader of the eastern branch of the Communist Party of Germany and now one of the two chairmen of the Socialist Unity Party.However, from the start the East German government was completely controlled by the SED, and over time its actual power structure grew closer to the model of the Soviet Union.When Pieck died on 7 September 1960, the SED opted against electing a successor, instead opting for a Soviet-style collective presidency.