The parliament of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and nominally the highest authority, with 500 delegates. Single-list elections assured that the Sozialistiche Einheitspartei (SED) and its mass organizations had an overall majority every five years. Basically it was the task of the Volkskammer to sanction the political course taken by party and government. Decisions were mostly taken unanimously, with one exception in 1972 when 14 Christlich-Demokratische Union (CDU) delegates voted against the liberal abortion law in the GDR. The first and only free elections to the Volkskammer took place on 18 March 1990 after the revolution (Umbruch) of 1989.