Elections in Yugoslavia

Last updated

Elections were held on municipal, provincial, republican and federal levels in Yugoslavia from its foundation in 1918 throughout its breakup in 1992.

Contents

History

Interwar period (1918 to 1941)

First elections in the Kingdom were for the Provisional Popular Legislature of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (these were preceded by local elections of National Councils in former Austria-Hungary, including the elections in Vojvodina and Montenegro for local parliaments). Parliamentary elections were held in 1920, 1923, 1925 and 1927, while with the new constitution a de facto Lower and Upper House were introduced in 1931 (the Senate next to the National Assembly). The 1931 elections were not free, as they were handled under a single-course dictatorship, while the 1935 and 1938 were held under limited basic democratic principles.[ citation needed ]

Post-World War II (1945 to 1974)

The country was occupied and broken up by the Axis Powers in 1941. After the war, the first, 1945 parliamentary election was held between two political options – the Communist Party of Yugoslavia-dominated People's Front, which was a coalition of nearly all major pre-war parties, and its opposition. This was the first time that Yugoslavia introduced women's right to vote. Having run nearly unopposed in that election, CPY promulgated a new Constitution in 1946 that abolished the monarchy and transformed the country into a federal republic. The Communist Party henceforth consolidated its power, ended multi-party elections, and established a one-party state. [1]

Candidates in subsequent elections were proposed only by the People's Front of Yugoslavia as formally non-partisan candidates. Originally, only one candidate was proposed to the electorate. The second parliamentary election in the FPRY was held in 1950. A new Federal Electoral Law was introduced on September 9, 1953, and it defined electoral units, the number of deputies in individual republics' parliaments, the candidate requirements (excluding party affiliation), etc. The number of candidates proposed to the electorate was also permitted to exceed one, allowing for competitive elections. [1] This kind of elections were held in 1953, 1958, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, and 1989.

Decentralisation (1974 to 1990)

Diagram showing the Yugoslav electoral system from 1974 to 1990 Yugoslavia delegate system (1974-90).png
Diagram showing the Yugoslav electoral system from 1974 to 1990

From 1974 to the dissolution of the country from 1990 to 1992, the Assembly was bicameral and was made up of a Federal Council and a Republican Council elected to four-year terms.

The Federal Council was elected by a complicated indirect delegate system through the popular front Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia. [2] The Federal Council was composed of 220 members. Its members were elected from the six republics (with 30 members each) and the two autonomous provinces (with 20 members each).

The Republican Council was composed of 88 members. Its members were elected from the six republics' assemblies (with 12 members each) and the two autonomous provinces' assemblies (with 8 members each). The deputies would then serve double mandates in their own assemblies and the Republican Council.

After elections an initial joint session of both councils of the Assembly would vote in a new Federal Executive Council, which also functioned on a four-year term.

Regular federal elections set for 1990 were never held before the country dissolved. Over the course of 1990 each constituent republic adopted democratic constitutions which allowed for political parties other than the League of Communists, and subsequently held multi-party elections. Due to the complicated political system, a new democratic electoral system could not be agreed upon by the Presidency (representing the republics, some of which were openly campaigning for independence and whose interest in Yugoslav reform was moot), the Executive Council (which had dissenting internal opinion about reform), and the Assembly itself which was made up of the old communist cadre.

YearFederal CouncilRepublican Council Federal Presidency Federal Executive Council Central Committee CPY/LCY
197416 March-29 April-10 May15 May15 May27–30 May (X)
197810 March-29 April-10 May15 May20–23 June (XI)
197915 May
198210 March-21 April-10 May15 May26–29 June (XII)
198415 May
198610 March-21 April-10 May15 May25–28 June (XIII)
198915 May16 March
1990Not heldNot held20-22 January (XIV)

Breakup of Yugoslavia and aftermath

With the fall of communism, a multi-party system was reintroduced in 1990. These were held in each of the constituent republics:

According to results, support for the former member parties of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia on the federal level at that point was between 35 and 40%.[ citation needed ]

Serbia and Montenegro remained together after the breakup of Yugoslavia and kept its name until 2003, with the last remnant of Yugoslavia ending upon Montenegro's independence in 2006.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegro</span> Country in Southeastern Europe

Montenegro is a country in Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Its 25 municipalities have a total population of 633,158 people in an area of 13,812 km2. It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, Croatia to the west, and has a coastline along the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is the Old Royal Capital and cultural centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yugoslavia</span> 1918–1992 country in Southeast Europe

Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 to 1992. It came into existence following World War I, under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from the merger of the Kingdom of Serbia with the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and constituted the first union of South Slavic peoples as a sovereign state, following centuries of foreign rule over the region under the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy. Peter I of Serbia was its first sovereign. The kingdom gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The official name of the state was changed to Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia</span> European socialist state (1945–1992)

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It was established in 1945 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, breaking up as a consequence of the Yugoslav Wars. Spanning an area of 255,804 square kilometres (98,766 sq mi) in the Balkans, Yugoslavia was bordered by the Adriatic Sea and Italy to the west, Austria and Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east, and Albania and Greece to the south. It was a one-party socialist state and federation governed by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, and had six constituent republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Within Serbia was the Yugoslav capital city of Belgrade as well as two autonomous Yugoslav provinces: Kosovo and Vojvodina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League of Communists of Yugoslavia</span> Political party in Yugoslavia (1919–1990)

The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and after its initial successes in the elections, it was proscribed by the royal government and was at times harshly and violently suppressed. It remained an illegal underground group until World War II when, after the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the military arm of the party, the Yugoslav Partisans, became embroiled in a bloody civil war and defeated the Axis powers and their local auxiliaries. After the liberation from foreign occupation in 1945, the party consolidated its power and established a one-party state, which existed in that form of government until 1990, a year prior to the start of the Yugoslav Wars and breakup of Yugoslavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakup of Yugoslavia</span> 1991–92 Balkan political conflict

After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart, but the unresolved issues caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav Wars. The wars primarily affected Bosnia and Herzegovina, neighbouring parts of Croatia and, some years later, Kosovo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Republic of Croatia</span> Federated state of Yugoslavia (1943–1991)

The Socialist Republic of Croatia, commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. By its constitution, modern-day Croatia is its direct continuation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prime Minister of Yugoslavia</span> Head of government of the Yugoslav state

The prime minister of Yugoslavia was the head of government of the Yugoslav state, from the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 until the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Republic of Serbia</span> Federated state of Yugoslavia (1945–1992)

The Socialist Republic of Serbia, previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia, commonly abbreviated as Republic of Serbia or simply Serbia, was one of the six constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in what is now the modern day states of Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo. Its formation was initiated in 1941, and achieved in 1944–1946, when it was established as a federated republic within Yugoslavia. In that form, it lasted until the constitutional reforms from 1990 to 1992, when it was reconstituted, as the Republic of Serbia within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in terms of population and territory. Its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League of Communists of Montenegro</span> Montenegrin political party

The League of Communists of Montenegro was the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. Under a 1974 SFR Yugoslavia constitution, greater powers were devolved to the various republic level branches.

The anti-bureaucratic revolution was a campaign of street protests by supporters of Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević that ran between 1988 and 1989 in Yugoslavia. The protests overthrew the government of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro as well as the governments of the Serbian provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, and replaced them with Milošević allies, thereby creating a dominant voting bloc within the Yugoslav presidency council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)</span> State of the FR Yugoslavia then Serbia and Montenegro

The Republic of Serbia was a constituent state of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between 1992 and 2003 and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2006. With Montenegro's secession from the union with Serbia in June 2006, both became sovereign states in their own right for the first time in nearly 88 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Yugoslavia</span> Collective head of state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the collective head of state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was established in 1971 according to amendments to the 1963 Constitution and reorganized by the 1974 Constitution. Up to 1974, the Presidency had 23 members – three from each republic, two from each autonomous province and President Josip Broz Tito. In 1974 the Presidency was reduced to 9 members – one from each republic and autonomous province and, until 1988, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia ex officio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assembly of Yugoslavia</span> Legislative assembly in Yugoslavia

The Parliament of Yugoslavia was the legislature of Yugoslavia. Before World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the National Assembly, while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was changed to Federal Assembly. It functioned from 1920 to 1992 and resided in the building of the House of the National Assembly which subsequently served as the seat of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro and since 2006 hosts the National Assembly of Serbia. The Federal Assembly was the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in the country, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified power as it was a one-party state, with the League of Communists of Yugoslavia as the sole legal party in the country. Most of the Federal Assembly's actions simply rubber stamp the party's decisions.

The Vidovdan Constitution was the first constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was approved by the Constitutional Assembly on 28 June 1921 despite the opposition boycotting the vote. The Constitution is named after the feast of St. Vitus (Vidovdan), a Serbian Orthodox holiday. The Constitution required a simple majority to pass. Out of 419 representatives, 223 voted for, 35 voted against and 161 abstained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slobodan Milošević</span> Yugoslav and Serbian politician (1941–2006)

Slobodan Milošević was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989–1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 until his оverthrow in 2000. Milošević played a major role in the Yugoslav Wars and became the first sitting head of state charged with war crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1946 Yugoslav Constitution</span> First constitution of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia

The 1946 Yugoslav Constitution, officially titled as the Constitution of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, was the first constitution of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. It was adopted by the Constitutional Assembly of Yugoslavia, elected on 11 November 1945. Constitution came into effect at its promulgation, on 31 January 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montenegrin nationalism</span> Nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation

Montenegrin nationalism is the nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Montenegrins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yugoslavia and the United Nations</span>

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was a charter member of the United Nations from its establishment in 1945 as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 1992 during the Yugoslav Wars. During its existence the country played a prominent role in the promotion of multilateralism and narrowing of the Cold War divisions in which various UN bodies were perceived as important vehicles. Yugoslavia was elected a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on multiple occasions in periods between 1950 and 1951, 1956, 1972–1973, and 1988–1989, which was in total 7 years of Yugoslav membership in the organization. The country was also one of 17 original members of the Special Committee on Decolonization.

Đorđe Đukić is a former politician in Serbia. He was the president of the executive council of Vojvodina from 2000 to 2004. He also served at different times in the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the National Assembly of Serbia, and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro, as well as being the mayor of Žabalj from 1996 to 2000. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, he joined the Liberal Democratic Party following a split in 2005 and later affiliated with the United Regions of Serbia.

References

  1. 1 2 Marina Štambuk-Škalić (April 2003). "Prilog poznavanju institucija: Sabor Narodne Republike Hrvatske saziv 1953-1963" (PDF). Arhivski vjesnik (Bulletin d'archives) (in Croatian). Croatian State Archives: 83–102. ISSN   0570-9008 . Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  2. Ramet, Sabrina (2010). Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989. Cambridge University Press. p. 72.