Parliament of Yugoslavia

The Parliament of Yugoslavia was the deliberative body of Yugoslavia. Before World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the National Assembly (Narodna skupština), while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was changed to Federal Assembly (Serbo-Croatian: Savezna skupština/Савезна скупштина). It was the official deliberative body of the Yugoslav state, which existed from 1918 to 1992 and resided in the building which now convenes the National Assembly of Serbia.

Parliament of Yugoslavia
History
Founded1920 (1920)
Disbanded1992 (1992)
The Parliament Building of Serbia, formerly the Federal Assembly Building.
Yugoslavia
This article is part of a series on the
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Kingdom

The first parliamentary body of the state was the Temporary National Representation which existed until the first elections were held on 28 November 1920. The new parliament was known as the Constitutional Assembly. The assembly adopted the controversial Vidovdan Constitution on 28 June 1921, after which it became known as the National Assembly.

After the end of the January 6th Dictatorship, in 1931 the kingdom returned to a constitutional monarchy and the National Assembly became the National Representation consisting of the National Assembly (lower chamber) and the Senate (upper chamber).

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia

During the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia (1941−1944), the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav Resistance.

Socialist Federal Republic

As a result of the Treaty of Vis, AVNOJ was reformed into the Temporary National Assembly which also included several dozen members of the assembly elected in 1938. After the consolidation of power by the communists in late 1945, the Constitutional Assembly was established. The Constitutional Assembly was divided into two houses: the Federal Assembly, and the Assembly of Peoples.

With the adoption of a constitution in 1946, the name National Assembly was adopted again. It was divided into two councils (chambers):[1] the Federal Council, and the Council of Peoples. In 1953, the Federal People's Assembly was divided into the Federal Council and the Council of Producers (from 1953 until 1967 the Council of Peoples being part of the Federal Council).

In 1963 with the adoption of a new constitution, the Federal Assembly was divided into five councils: the Federal Council, the Economic Council, Educational-Cultural Council, Social-Health Council and the Organization-Political Council. In 1967 the Council of Peoples was reintroduced, in 1968 the Federal Council was abolished and the Organization-Political Council changed its name into Socio-Political Council. The Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia was the only pentacameral (later hexacameral) legislature on the planet. In 1974 the Assembly of the SFRY was divided again into two chambers: the Federal Council and the Council of Republics and Provinces.

The Federal Assembly was composed of appointed members from the League of Communists of Yugoslavia compiled from the Leagues of Communists of each constituent republic.

After the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, the Assembly of the SFRY was bicameral, with the lower house called the Federal Chamber and upper house, the Chamber of Republics and Provinces. The Federal Chamber had 30 members from each Republic and 20 from each Autonomous Province, while the Chamber of Republics and Provinces had 12 members from each Republic and 8 from each Autonomous Province.[2]

When the League of Communists collapsed in 1990 amid ethnic tensions, the Assembly was shut down. The institution would be resurrected as the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, but this assembly had elected members.

See also

References
  1. Throughout its existence, the Assembly was composed of "councils" (Serbo-Croatian: vijeće, pl. vijeća); actually these were "chambers" or "houses".
  2. Constitution of the SFRY on WikiSource (in Serbian)
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