Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a question and a context passage. You have to answer the question based on the given passage.

What change was made during Sassou's leadership?, Context: Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a twenty-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.
less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship