The elite moving from "democratically elected" lawmakers to "selected intellectual elite" with a dictate, might seem like a pleonasm to most on here, but if it was insignificant, they wouldn't bother doing it. It's tightening their power and finding ways of getting the population to willingly give away control, or semblance of control. For all the flaws of the current system, we were not under perfect elite control like the ussr was, but this step is a big one in that direction.