 It declared East Germany to be a socialist state whose power derived from the working class under the leadership of "its Marxist-Leninist party"–thus codifying the actual state of affairs that had existed since 1949.The new constitution proclaimed the victory of socialism and restated the country's commitment to unification under Communist leadership.However, the SED leadership, although successful in establishing socialism in East Germany, had limited success in winning popular support for the repressive social system.