 The NES brought forth a new elite in politics as well as in management of the economy, and in 1963 Ulbricht announced a new policy regarding admission to the leading ranks of the SED.Ulbricht opened the Politburo and the Central Committee to younger members who had more education than their predecessors and who had acquired managerial and technical skills.As a consequence of the new policy, the SED elite became divided into political and economic factions, the latter composed of members of the new technocratic elite.