The Staatsrat (Council of State) is the first part of the Soviet Triumvirate of the DDR. It is occupied by the Generalsekretär des Zentralkomitees der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (General-Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany). The General-Secretary always will be the Chairman of the Council of State, which other spots are made up by party leadership of the SED.