National Assembly of Serbia
Encyclopedia
The National Assembly of Serbia is the unicameral
parliament
of Serbia
. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected
deputies elected in general elections by secret ballot
, on 4 years term. The National Assembly elects the President of the National Assembly
(speaker
) who presides over the sessions. The current president is Slavica Đukić Dejanović since 25 June 2008.
The National Assembly exercise supreme legislative power. It adopts and amends the Constitution
, elects Government
, appoints and dismisses Constitutional Court
judges, president of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia
and other state officials. All decisions are made by majority vote of deputies at the session at
which majority of deputies are present, except for amending the Constitution, when two thirds majority is needed.
The National Assembly convenes in the building called Dom Narodne Skupštine (House of the National Assembly) in Belgrade
.
, articles 98-110. The National Assembly is the supreme representative body and the holder of constitutional
and legislative power
in Serbia.
The National Assembly also performs other functions stipulated by the Constitution and Law.
90 days before the end of the term of office of the National Assembly, so that elections are finished within the following 60 days. Elections are closed party-list proportional
. The whole country is one electoral district. 250 seats are than distributed between the lists using d'Hondt method
. There is a minimum voting threshold of 5%, so that only the party lists which get more than 5% of the votes are awarded the seats. There is no threshold for the ethnic minority lists
.
After the elections, the first session of the new Assembly is convened by the Speaker from the previous convocation, so that the session is held not later than 30 days
from the day of declaring the final election results.
. At least 30% of the deputies are women. Deputy may not be a deputy in the Assembly of the autonomous province, nor an official in bodies of executive government and judiciary, nor may he or she perform other functions, affairs and duties, which represent a conflict of interest
.
Deputies enjoy parliamentary immunity
.
) and one or more Vice-Presidents (deputy speakers), usually one vice-president from each parliamentary group. The Speaker of the National Assembly represents the National Assembly, convokes its sessions, presides over them and performs other official activities. The vice-presidents assist the President in performing the duties within his/her purview.
In case the speaker is temporarily absent, one of the Vice-Presidents designated by him/her stands in for him/her. If the speaker does not designate any of the Vice-Presidents to stand in for him/her, the oldest Vice-President shall stand in for him/her.
The Secretary of the National Assembly is appointed by the National Assembly. Secretary of the National Assembly assists the President and Vice-Presidents in preparing and chairing sittings. His/her term of office is terminated upon the constitution of a newly elected National Assembly, while he/she shall continue discharging his/her duties until the appointment of a new Secretary. Secretary is not elected from the deputies, and is not member of the Assembly.
The Parliamentary groups usually, but not necessary, correspond to the electoral party lists. Sometimes deputies from two or more lists join to form one group, but more usually members of one list, who joined together before the elections just to pass the threshold, split into two or more Parliamentary groups.
from the previous convocation. At the first sitting of the National Assembly the President of the Assembly, Vice-Presidents and the members of the working bodies of the National Assembly are elected and the Secretary of the National Assembly is appointed.
The National Assembly is convoked for two regular sessions per year, starting on the first workdays of March and October. The Assembly is convoked for extraordinary session at the request of at least one third of the deputies or the request of the Government, with previously determined agenda. The National Assembly can be convoked without announcement upon the declaration of the state of war or emergency. The proposed agenda for a National Assembly sitting is prepared by the speaker. A quorum
for the work of
the National Assembly exists if a minimum of one-third of deputies are present at the National Assembly sitting. The quorum for the work of the National Assembly on Voting Days exists if at least 126 deputies are present at the sitting.
The right to propose laws, other regulations and general acts belongs to every deputy, the government, assemblies of autonomous provinces or at least 30,000 voters. The Ombudsman
and National Bank of Serbia
also have the right to propose laws falling within their competence. Upon the request of the majority of all deputies or at least 100,000 voters, the National Assembly may call a referendum
on issues falling within its competence.
The National Assembly adopts decisions by majority vote of deputies at the session at which majority of deputies are present. The deputies vote “For” a motion, “Against” a motion, or abstain from voting.
If the Assembly is in crisis, The President of the Republic may dissolve the National Assembly, upon an elaborated proposal of the government. The government may not propose dissolution of the Assembly, if a proposal has been submitted to dismiss the Government. The National Assembly is also dissolved if it fails to elect the Government within 90 days from the day of its constitution. The National Assembly may not be dissolved during the state of war and emergency. The National Assembly, which has been dissolved, only performs current or urgent tasks. In case of declaration of the state of war or emergency, its full competence is reestablished and lasts until the end of the state of war, that is,
emergency.
The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of Serbia regulate the organisation and work of the National Assembly and the manner in which the deputies’ rights and duties are exercised.
of the National Assembly established to consider and review issues falling within the purview of the National Assembly, to propose official documents, as well as to carry out reviews of policies pursued, and laws, by-laws and other regulations implemented by the Government, to be done by each Committee for the field that falls within its purview; and also to perform other duties foreseen by the Rules of Procedure. There are 30 standing Committees, and each Committee may, from its midst, appoint one or more sub-committees to consider certain issues from its purview.
Before being considered by the National Assembly, a bill is considered by competent Committees and the Government, if it is not the submitter of the bill. In their opinion, the Committees and the Government may propose that the National Assembly accept or reject the bill.
Parliamentary Groups nominate members for each Committee proportionally to the number of deputies they have at the National Assembly. The proposed candidate list for Committee members is voted on as a unit, by open voting.
Assembly was convened, and held from 30 November 1858 to 31 January 1859 in Belgrade. Thus the institution of the national assembly was made legal, and foundations were laid for a system of popular representation in Serbia.
Common-law assemblies were held from the beginning of the 19th century until 1858. They were convened either by the Prince or by the Council whenever they saw fit. They were also held during the First
and Second Serbian Uprising
s, from 1804 to 1815. The participants in these assemblies, except for a few rare cases, were invited by the Prince or by the Council, rather than elected by the people. Common-law assemblies were almost always held under the open sky, and thousands of people would attend. At one of them, the Sretenje Assembly, held on the day of the Serbian Orthodox Church
religious holiday Sretenje (Presentation of Jesus), the first Serbian constitution – Sretenje Constitution – was ratified. In early September 1842, the "Defenders of the Constitution" (ustavobranioci) headed by Toma Vučić-Perišić, aided by the assembly, deposed Prince Mihailo
and put Aleksandar Karađorđević in his place. Sixteen years later, at the St. Andrew's Day Assembly, they performed a dynastic coup and returned the Obrenović dynasty
to the throne.
According to the Act on the National Assembly passed at the St. Andrew's Day Assembly, the Assembly was named "The Serbian National Assembly". It kept this name until it ceased to exist in 1918. Serbian constitutions of 1835, 1869, 1888, 1901 and 1903 provide for a National Assembly as an institution and regulate the question of its work. Unlike them, the 1838 "Turkish" Constitution does not even mention a National Assembly.
According to the Acts on the National Assembly passed by Prince Miloš Obrenović (1860) and Prince Mihailo Obrenović
(1861), the National Assembly was to meet every three years. The Assembly could be either ordinary or great. The great assembly was two or four times larger, according to the number of deputies, than the ordinary one. It was usually called when questions such as electing the Prince (or King) or changing the Constitution needed to be solved. Voting in the Assembly could either be individual (by name), by deputies' sitting or standing, or by secret ballot. Voting by name was administered when final texts of Acts were considered, and whenever the Government or at least twenty Deputies demanded it. Assembly officials were elected by secret ballot. The convening, opening, concluding, postponing, prolonging and dissolving of the Assembly were prerogatives of the Prince (or King). Assembly sittings were opened by the Prince's (or King's) Speech, responded to by the Assembly with the address.
Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the National Assembly were for a time elected by the Prince (or King) from among six candidates proposed by the Assembly; according to the 1888 and 1903 Constitutions, they were elected by the Assembly itself from among its members. One Deputy was elected for a set number of taxpayers. Initially, one Deputy was elected for 500 taxpayers, then for 1000, then 2000, and finally for 4500 taxpayers. This electoral formula determined the number of Deputies in the Assembly. At the St. Andrew's Day Assembly there were 437, and later the number oscillated between 120 and 160. Great National Assemblies could number more than 600 Deputies.
Suffrage was held by every native or naturalised Serb over 21 years of age and paying tax on his estate, work or income. Women did not have suffrage. Until 1888, public voting was practiced at elections for Deputies. The voter would publicly declare "whom he wanted for Deputy" at the polling station. The votes were noted and tallied. Secret ballot was introduced in the 1888 Constitution. It was performed with little balls. Apart from the Deputies elected by the people, the Assembly was also made up, according to the 1869 Constitution, of Deputies nominated by the Prince (or King). There was one nominated Deputy for every three elected ones. The 1888 and 1903 Constitutions provided for an Assembly comprised solely of elected Deputies.
According to the 1869 Constitution, all members of the Council of State were appointed by the Prince. According to the 1888 and 1903 Constitutions, eight were appointed by the King, and eight elected by the National Assembly.
As for legislation, no law could be passed, repealed, modified or interpreted without the assent of the National Assembly. However, until 1888 the right of legislative initiative was held not by the Assembly but by the Prince (or King) and the Government. In other words, the Assembly was subservient to the Government, not the Government to the Assembly. The Assembly was unicameral, except from 1901 to 1903. According to the 1901 Constitution, the Popular Representative Body was made up of two chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate.
A Deputy could not be under 30 years of age. One of the conditions for gaining the title of Deputy was to pay a certain amount to the State as immediate tax. Members of the Senate had to be at least 40 years of age. Eighteen of them were elected, and 30 appointed by the King for life. The Crown Prince
, on his coming of age, would also become a member; the Senate's number was completed by the Archbishop of Belgrade and the Bishop of Niš
.
Cities where Assemblies met were Belgrade, Kragujevac
and Niš. Common-law Assemblies, except for several held during the Uprisings, met in Belgrade and Kragujevac. During the First World War, the Serbian National Assembly also met in Corfu
. Buildings where Assembly sittings were held: Belgrade - "The Great Beer Hall" (where the St. Andrew's Day Assembly met), the National Theatre
, Captain Miša's Mansion
(the Great School), and the temporary building of the National Assembly near the present-day Odeon Cinema (from 1882); Kragujevac - the National Assembly Building erected by order of Prince Miloš in 1859; Niš - Saint Sava Elementary School near the Cathedral, and the building of the Officers' Club.
The first Chairman of the National Assembly (the St. Andrew's Day Assembly) was Major Miša Anastasijević
. Political parties, the Liberal
, Progressive and People's Radical Party
, officially formed in the 1880s, gained the opportunity to become real participants in the struggle for power thanks to the 1888 Constitution. The most successful were the radicals, the creators of this Constitution.
By adopting the 1903 Constitution (in effect just a slightly altered 1888 Constitution), Serbia became a modern parliamentary state. The Constitution was passed without the monarch's participation and is considered one of the most liberal of contemporary European constitutions. One of the most important innovations introduced by the 1903 Constitution was that the model of royal superiority over the Assembly was abandoned.
During the Serbian-Ottoman War from 1876 to 1878, the Balkan Wars
from 1912 to 1913 and the First World War until the withdrawal across Albania
in October 1915, the Assembly was in permanent session. It passed several Acts on wartime loans, among others. When Niš was being evacuated in October 1915, the entire Assembly archives were destroyed by order of the Assembly's Presidency, so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy.
With the Act of Unification, on December 1, 1918, and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the legislative function of all popular representative bodies in the unified state ceased. The Serbian National Assembly met for the last time on December 14, 1918. On the basis of a communication from the Royal Government, it elected 84 Deputies from its ranks to the Interim Popular Representative Body of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Serbia was given another 24 places for territories annexed to it in 1913. Deciding that elections for deputies in those areas should take place urgently, the Assembly ended its work, officially transferring its functions to the Interim Popular Representative Body. Deputies from Serbia made a lasting mark in the work of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
lie in the decision of the Second Meeting of the AVNOJ
, held on November 29 and 30, 1943 in Jajce
, that Yugoslavia should be created on a federal basis as a union of five equal peoples. This decision grants the five peoples the right to self-determination
including separation. Representatives from Serbia also participated in the meeting; their presence was approved by a special declaration of adopted at a meeting of the Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia. The Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia was held from November 9 to November 12, 1944. The 989 Deputies of this Assembly were not elected by the people but were delegated from the People's Liberation Committees or co-opted from the People's Liberation Front
. A decision was taken at the sitting to constitute the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia (ASNOS) as the highest body of legislative and executive government in Serbia. Two hundred and seventy eight deputies were elected from among the 989 present to make up the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia.
The Presidency, or Presidium of the National Assembly of Serbia existed until 1953 as a separate body with significant legislative and executive functions.
In April 1945, the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia changed its name to National Assembly of Serbia. Later names of the assembly were: National Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia (February 1946 to April 1963); Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
(April 1963 to September 1990); Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (September 1990 to January 1991) and National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (since January 1991). The first Chairman of the National Assembly of Serbia after the Second World War was Sinisa Stankovic, PhD. The first woman to preside over a sitting of the Assembly was Milka Minić (at the sitting of the Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia on November 12, 1944).
The first elections for the Assembly in Serbia after World War II were held on November 10, 1946. These were elections for the Constituent Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia. All Yugoslav citizens living on the territory of Serbia over 18 years of age had the right to vote. For the first time, women and soldiers had the right to vote. Elections were carried out on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot. Voting was performed with little balls until elections in November 1953, when ballot papers were introduced for the first time. Until 1963, one deputy was elected for a certain number of inhabitants (twenty, forty or fifty thousand). Therefore, the total number of Deputies differed. Thus, the Constituent Assembly numbered 287 Deputies, the 1951 Assembly had 315, while 291 Deputies were elected to the Council of the Republic and the Council of Producers of the People's Republic of Serbia in 1953.
The first Serbian Constitution after the Second World War was passed by the Constituent Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia on January 17, 1947. Its seventh article is devoted to the National Assembly. The mandate of the National Assembly lasted for four years. Deputies' immunity from prosecution was guaranteed.
Until 1953, the National Assembly was unicameral. From 1953 to 1963 it had two chambers: the Council of the Republic and the Council of Producers; from 1963 to 1974 it was composed of five chambers: Council of the Republic, Council of Economy, Council of Education and Culture, Council of Social Security and Health, and the Organisational and Political Council. From 1974 to 1990 it had three chambers: the Council of Associated Labour, the Council of Municipalities and the Social and Political Council. The Assembly again became unicameral in January 1991. According to the 1963 Constitution, the Assembly is defined as the highest government and social self-management body within the rights and duties of the Republic. It numbered 440 Deputies, of which 120 formed the Council of the Republic, while the remaining four Councils each numbered 80 Deputies.
The Republic Executive Council (Government) was responsible to the Assembly for its work. Its members and President were elected by the Assembly. After the institution of the Council of the People into the Federal Assembly of the SFRY
in 1967, the Serbian Assembly elected 20 Deputies to that Council, whereas the Assemblies of the Autonomous Provinces each elected 10.
Assemblies of all Socialist Republics, including the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, agreed with the draft Constitution of the SFR Yugoslavia before its ratification by the Federal Assembly on February 21, 1974. The Constitution of the SR Serbia was passed on February 25, 1974. The hitherto-used system based on Deputies was replaced by a Delegate-based system, as well as a self-management
concept based on associated labour. The Council of Associated Labour, as one of the three Councils of the Assembly, had the most Delegates - 160. The other two, the Council of Municipalities and the Social and Political Council each had 90 Delegates. According to the Constitution of Serbia passed in 1974, the Assembly elected the members of the Presidency of the SR Serbia, the Council of the Republic and the Serbian member of the Presidency of the SFR Yugoslavia. The Presidency of the SR Serbia passed decrees proclaiming Acts adopted by the Assembly. The Council of the People of the Assembly of Yugoslavia changed its name to Council of the Republics and Provinces. The Serbian Assembly elected 12 Delegates to that Council, while Assemblies of the Socialist Autonomous Provinces elected 8 each.
Constitutional reform in Serbia began in January 1988 and ended on March 28, 1989 with the proclamation of Constitutional Amendments IX to XLIX. This day was marked as the day when a new Constitution was adopted and when Serbia's sovereignty was returned to her. It was made a national holiday. The new Constitution, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia was ratified on September 28, 1990. The Assembly's authority had not changed significantly. The Delegate-based system was abolished, and a Deputy-based one reintroduced. The Assembly is made up of 250 Deputies. The first multi-party elections for the National Assembly of Serbia after World War II were held on December 9 and 23, 1990, on the basis of a decision made by the National Assembly of Serbia on the calling of elections and previously passed Acts on the Election of Deputies and on Constituencies. Voter turnout was 5,030,440 people out of 7,036,303 eligible, or 71,49%. The Socialist Party of Serbia
won 194 seats, the Serbian Renewal Movement
19, the Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
8, candidates of various Citizens' Groups 8, the Democratic Party
7 etc. Slobodan Unković was elected Chairman of the first multi-party Assembly of Serbia.
Apart from a large number of laws, the Assembly passed, in 1991, several declarations on violence and crimes against the Serb people in Croatia
, on Croatia's secession and European Union
's support for the secession. Extraordinary elections for the National Assembly
and the President of the Republic were held on December 20 and 27, 1992 and January 3, 1993. The Socialist Party of Serbia won 101 seats, the Serbian Radical Party
71, DEPOS - Democratic Movement of Serbia 50, etc. Zoran Lilić
, MA was elected Chairman of the Assembly.
The Serbian Assembly elected 20 Deputies to the Chamber of the Republics of the Federal Assembly of FR Yugoslavia
.
In the elections held on December 19 and 26, 1993 and January 5, 1994
, the Socialist Party of Serbia won 123 seats, DEPOS won 45, the Serbian Radical Party won 39, the Democratic Party won 29 etc. Dragan Tomić
was elected Chairman of the Assembly.
At an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, held on February 11, 1997, for the first time in Serbian parliamentary life, a special law (Lex specialis
) was passed. This was the Act on Confirming the Unofficial Results of Elections for Councillors of Municipal and City Assemblies Listed in the Report of the OSCE Mission. The elections in question had taken place on November 17, 1996.
Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly, held on September 21 and 28, 1997, and on October 5, 1997
, had the following outcome: the Coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Yugoslav Left
and New Democracy won 110 seats, the Serbian Radical Party won 82 seats, the Serbian Renewal Movement won 45 seats, etc. The Chairman of the Assembly remained the same.
Throughout 1998 the Assembly took several turns to discuss the then current security situation as well as the economic and social conditions in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Albanian separatism. A referendum was called in order for citizens of Serbia to vote on whether they would allow foreign representatives to participate in the solution of problems in Kosovo and Metohija. Close to 95% of the 5,297,776 people who turned out to vote responded with a "no". In early February 1999, the National Assembly strongly condemned threats made by NATO to Yugoslavia. It did the same on March 23, after the Serbian delegation's talks in Rambouillet and Paris
. A day later, on March 24, 1999, NATO forces attacked Yugoslavia
. During the State of War, the Assembly held one sitting, on June 3, 1999. This session saw the passing of a decision to adopt the Document proposed to reach a peaceful solution of the crisis, which had been brought by the European Union and Russia
's highest representatives, the President of the Republic of Finland
Martti Ahtisaari
and the Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin
, Viktor Chernomyrdin
.
After the events of October 5, 2000, with the official confirmation of the victory of Vojislav Koštunica
, over Slobodan Milošević
in the elections for the President of FR Yugoslavia
, the Serbian Assembly passed, on October 9, 2000, the Act on the Election of Deputies. According to it, all of Serbia is one constituency. An electoral list must be confirmed by at least 10,000 voters.
On October 25, 2000, the President of Serbia Milan Milutinović
dissolved the National Assembly, which had been constituted on December 3, 1997. Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly
were called for December 23, 2000. In the elections, out of 6,525,162 people eligible to vote 3,748,623, or 55,91%, turned out. The Democratic Opposition of Serbia
(DOS) won 176 seats, the Socialist Party of Serbia won 37, the Serbian Radical Party won 23 and the Party of Serbian Unity
won 14 seats. Dragan Maršićanin
was elected Speaker of the Assembly.
, on the Nikola Pašić Square
№13, in front of Pioneer's Park. It is officially called Dom Narodne Skupštine (Дом Народне Скупштине, "House of the National Assembly"). The Parliament of Serbia
moved into this building on 23 July 2006 following the dissolution
of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Prior to becoming the parliament of Serbia, it served as the seat of parliament for Yugoslavia
(Kingdom
, DFY, FPRY, SFRY
and FRY) and the State Union. During the time of Yugoslavia and the State Union, the parliament of Serbia convened in another building on Kralja Milana street.
Construction on the building started in 1907, with the cornerstone being laid by King Petar I. The building was based on a design made by Konstantin Jovanović
in 1891; a variant of that design made by Jovan Ilkić, which won a competition in 1901. World War I
delayed construction, and the original plans to the building were lost. Reconstruction of the plans were made by Ilkić's son Pavle. The interior was designed by Nikolaj Krasnov. It was designed in the manner of academic
tradition
alism. The construction of the building was completed in 1936 and the first session in the new edifice was held on October 20 of the same year. At the time, it was the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In September 1939, the Assembly was dissolved and during the Second World War it was occupied by the aggressor's civil administration for Serbia. Several decades after the end of the war, this was the building of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, in the 1990s, this edifice became the seat of the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and later the seat of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro
. On June 5, 2006, Serbia became an independent republic, thus, the parliament building became the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
The National Assembly House covers an area of 13,400 m2 and contains four floors: subterranean part, ground floor, first floor and attic and mezzanines – below the subterranean
part, between the subterranean part and ground floor and between the ground floor and first floor. The building contains 100 offices, great and small plenary halls and four committee halls with full conference equipment. All the halls are air-conditioned. The building is equipped with computers, printers, scanners and fax machines, has an internal television channel and computer network with a non-stop internet connection. The library, situated on the first floor of the National Assembly, has an area of 165 m2 and
contains over 60,000 books.
A sculpture by Toma Rosandić
, Igrali se konji vrani ("Play of Black Horses"), was placed in front of the building in 1939.
A clip of the parliament building burning (which happened during the October fifth Overthrow) can be seen in the 2008 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still
. The building is shown on the five thousand Serbian dinar
note. The parliament building also seems to have served as inspiration in the game Half-life 2
, featured as the Overwatch Nexus. The parliament building was featured in the 2011 movie Coriolanus.
Group visits to the National Assembly are organised every day, between 9.00 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The original design for this building was completed in 1948, and its construction was completed in late 1953. The building was designed by architect E. Azriel, and was constructed by the Construction Institute of Serbia. The Building was originally named the "Office Building of the Presidency of the Government of the People's Republic of Serbia at Marshal Tito
Street №14" (later renamed to Kralja Milana street). The first National Assembly session in the building was held on March 20, 1954, while in the period between 1945 and 1954, the National Assembly sessions were held in the current building known as the House of the National Assembly, Nikola Pašić Square №13.
.
Unicameralism
In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house...
parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. It is composed of 250 proportionally elected
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
deputies elected in general elections by secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
, on 4 years term. The National Assembly elects the President of the National Assembly
President of the National Assembly of Serbia
The President of the National Assembly of Serbia is the speaker of the parliament of Serbia...
(speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
) who presides over the sessions. The current president is Slavica Đukić Dejanović since 25 June 2008.
The National Assembly exercise supreme legislative power. It adopts and amends the Constitution
Constitution of Serbia
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
, elects Government
Government of Serbia
Officially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...
, appoints and dismisses Constitutional Court
Constitutional Court of Serbia
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia is the court authorized to perform judicial review in the Republic of Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by the Serbian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It is not considered as part of the...
judges, president of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia is the central bank of Serbia; its main responsibilities are the protection of price stability and maintenance of financial stability....
and other state officials. All decisions are made by majority vote of deputies at the session at
which majority of deputies are present, except for amending the Constitution, when two thirds majority is needed.
The National Assembly convenes in the building called Dom Narodne Skupštine (House of the National Assembly) in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
Role
The role of the National Assembly is defined by the Constitution of SerbiaConstitution of Serbia
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
, articles 98-110. The National Assembly is the supreme representative body and the holder of constitutional
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
and legislative power
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
in Serbia.
Competencies
National Assembly:- adopts and amends the ConstitutionConstitution of SerbiaThe Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
; - decides on changes concerning the borders of Serbia;
- calls for the national referendumReferendumA referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
; - ratifies international contracts when the obligation of their ratification is stipulated by the Law;
- decides on war and peace and declares state of war or emergency;
- supervises the work of security services;
- enacts laws and other general acts;
- gives prior consent to the Statute of the autonomous province;
- adopts defense strategy;
- adopts development planDevelopment PlanA development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area...
and spatial plan; - adopts the budget and end-of-year balance, at the government’s proposal;
- grants amnesty for criminal offenses.
- elects the GovernmentGovernment of SerbiaOfficially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...
, supervises its work and decides on expiry of term of office of the government and ministers; - appoints and dismisses Constitutional CourtConstitutional Court of SerbiaThe Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia is the court authorized to perform judicial review in the Republic of Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by the Serbian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It is not considered as part of the...
judges; - appoints the president of the Supreme Court of Cassation, court presidents, public prosecutors and judges;
- appoints and dismisses the Governor of the National Bank of SerbiaNational Bank of SerbiaNational Bank of Serbia is the central bank of Serbia; its main responsibilities are the protection of price stability and maintenance of financial stability....
and supervises his/her work; - appoints and dismisses other officials stipulated by the Law.
The National Assembly also performs other functions stipulated by the Constitution and Law.
Parliamentary elections
Parliamentary elections are regulated by the Constitution. The elections are held after the four-year term of the previous assembly has expired, but can also be held before that if the Assembly dismisses the Government or the Government resigns and no majority can be reached to elect new Government. Elections are called by the President of SerbiaPresident of Serbia
The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
90 days before the end of the term of office of the National Assembly, so that elections are finished within the following 60 days. Elections are closed party-list proportional
Closed list
Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected...
. The whole country is one electoral district. 250 seats are than distributed between the lists using d'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
. There is a minimum voting threshold of 5%, so that only the party lists which get more than 5% of the votes are awarded the seats. There is no threshold for the ethnic minority lists
Political parties of minorities
Ethnic parties aim to represent an ethnic group in a political system, be it a sovereign state or a subnational entity. An alternate designation is 'Political parties of minorities', but they should not be mistaken with regionalist or separatist parties, whose purpose is territorial autonomy.-...
.
After the elections, the first session of the new Assembly is convened by the Speaker from the previous convocation, so that the session is held not later than 30 days
from the day of declaring the final election results.
Deputies
The National Assembly is composed of 250 deputies called Narodni poslanici (Народни посланици) in SerbianSerbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
. At least 30% of the deputies are women. Deputy may not be a deputy in the Assembly of the autonomous province, nor an official in bodies of executive government and judiciary, nor may he or she perform other functions, affairs and duties, which represent a conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
.
Deputies enjoy parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself...
.
President and Vice-Presidents
By means of majority votes of all deputies, the National Assembly elects the President of the Assembly (speakerSpeaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
) and one or more Vice-Presidents (deputy speakers), usually one vice-president from each parliamentary group. The Speaker of the National Assembly represents the National Assembly, convokes its sessions, presides over them and performs other official activities. The vice-presidents assist the President in performing the duties within his/her purview.
In case the speaker is temporarily absent, one of the Vice-Presidents designated by him/her stands in for him/her. If the speaker does not designate any of the Vice-Presidents to stand in for him/her, the oldest Vice-President shall stand in for him/her.
The Secretary of the National Assembly is appointed by the National Assembly. Secretary of the National Assembly assists the President and Vice-Presidents in preparing and chairing sittings. His/her term of office is terminated upon the constitution of a newly elected National Assembly, while he/she shall continue discharging his/her duties until the appointment of a new Secretary. Secretary is not elected from the deputies, and is not member of the Assembly.
Parliamentary groups
Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly are formed not later than seven days after the date of the election of the National Assembly Speaker. A parliamentary group comprises the deputies of one political party or organisation, that has at least five deputies. A parliamentary group of at least five members may also be established by the association of deputies belonging to several political parties ore other political organisations that have less than five deputies each. A Parliamentary group is represented by the Group Head. A Group has its Deputy Head, who stands in for the head in case of his/her absence. During a National Assembly sitting, a Parliamentary group may authorise one of its members to represent the Group in relation with a particular item from the agenda. When new members join a parliamentary group, the group Head shall communicate to the National Assembly Speaker their signed statements of accession.The Parliamentary groups usually, but not necessary, correspond to the electoral party lists. Sometimes deputies from two or more lists join to form one group, but more usually members of one list, who joined together before the elections just to pass the threshold, split into two or more Parliamentary groups.
Sessions
The first session of the new Assembly is convened by the Assembly Speaker from the previous convocation. The first sitting of the National Assembly is chaired by the oldest deputy. He/she is assisted in his/her work by the youngest deputy from each of the four party lists that polled the largest number of seats, and by the Secretary of the Assemblyfrom the previous convocation. At the first sitting of the National Assembly the President of the Assembly, Vice-Presidents and the members of the working bodies of the National Assembly are elected and the Secretary of the National Assembly is appointed.
The National Assembly is convoked for two regular sessions per year, starting on the first workdays of March and October. The Assembly is convoked for extraordinary session at the request of at least one third of the deputies or the request of the Government, with previously determined agenda. The National Assembly can be convoked without announcement upon the declaration of the state of war or emergency. The proposed agenda for a National Assembly sitting is prepared by the speaker. A quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
for the work of
the National Assembly exists if a minimum of one-third of deputies are present at the National Assembly sitting. The quorum for the work of the National Assembly on Voting Days exists if at least 126 deputies are present at the sitting.
The right to propose laws, other regulations and general acts belongs to every deputy, the government, assemblies of autonomous provinces or at least 30,000 voters. The Ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
and National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia
National Bank of Serbia is the central bank of Serbia; its main responsibilities are the protection of price stability and maintenance of financial stability....
also have the right to propose laws falling within their competence. Upon the request of the majority of all deputies or at least 100,000 voters, the National Assembly may call a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on issues falling within its competence.
The National Assembly adopts decisions by majority vote of deputies at the session at which majority of deputies are present. The deputies vote “For” a motion, “Against” a motion, or abstain from voting.
If the Assembly is in crisis, The President of the Republic may dissolve the National Assembly, upon an elaborated proposal of the government. The government may not propose dissolution of the Assembly, if a proposal has been submitted to dismiss the Government. The National Assembly is also dissolved if it fails to elect the Government within 90 days from the day of its constitution. The National Assembly may not be dissolved during the state of war and emergency. The National Assembly, which has been dissolved, only performs current or urgent tasks. In case of declaration of the state of war or emergency, its full competence is reestablished and lasts until the end of the state of war, that is,
emergency.
Acts
Acts passed by the National Assembly are:- laws;
- budgetBudgetA budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
; - development planDevelopment PlanA development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area...
; - spatial plan;
- financial statementFinancial statementA financial statement is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. In British English—including United Kingdom company law—a financial statement is often referred to as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by...
; - Rules of procedure;
- declarationDeclarationDeclaration may refer to:* Declaration , specifies the identifier, type, and other aspects of language elements* Declaration , when the captain of a cricket team declares its innings closed...
s; - resolutionResolution (law)A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
s; - recommendationRecommendationA recommendation can be:* In technical contexts, a norm or a norm * Recommender systems use Information filtering systems to create computer generated recommendations* European Union recommendation, in international law...
s; - decisionsDecision makingDecision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
; - conclusionConclusion-Logic:*Logical consequence*Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise, a logical fallacy-Music:*Conclusion , the end of a musical composition*The Conclusion, an album by Bombshell Rocks*Conclusion of an Age, an album by the band Sylosis...
s; and - authentic interpretationAuthentic interpretationAn authentic interpretation is an official interpretation of a statute issued by the statute's legislator. In civil law and canon law, an authentic interpretation has the force of law.- Roman Catholic Church :...
s of the acts it passes.
The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of Serbia regulate the organisation and work of the National Assembly and the manner in which the deputies’ rights and duties are exercised.
Committees
Committees are standing working bodiesStanding Committee
In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...
of the National Assembly established to consider and review issues falling within the purview of the National Assembly, to propose official documents, as well as to carry out reviews of policies pursued, and laws, by-laws and other regulations implemented by the Government, to be done by each Committee for the field that falls within its purview; and also to perform other duties foreseen by the Rules of Procedure. There are 30 standing Committees, and each Committee may, from its midst, appoint one or more sub-committees to consider certain issues from its purview.
Before being considered by the National Assembly, a bill is considered by competent Committees and the Government, if it is not the submitter of the bill. In their opinion, the Committees and the Government may propose that the National Assembly accept or reject the bill.
Parliamentary Groups nominate members for each Committee proportionally to the number of deputies they have at the National Assembly. The proposed candidate list for Committee members is voted on as a unit, by open voting.
1804-1918
The first Act of the National Assembly of Serbia was passed on 28 October 1858. Based on this Act, the St. Andrew's DaySt. Andrew's Day
St Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on 30 November.Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day...
Assembly was convened, and held from 30 November 1858 to 31 January 1859 in Belgrade. Thus the institution of the national assembly was made legal, and foundations were laid for a system of popular representation in Serbia.
Common-law assemblies were held from the beginning of the 19th century until 1858. They were convened either by the Prince or by the Council whenever they saw fit. They were also held during the First
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising was the first stage of the Serbian Revolution , the successful wars of independence that lasted for 9 years and approximately 9 months , during which Serbia perceived itself as an independent state for the first time after more than three centuries of Ottoman rule and...
and Second Serbian Uprising
Second Serbian Uprising
The Second Serbian Uprising was a second phase of the Serbian revolution against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the re-annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire, in 1813. The occupation was enforced following the defeat of the First Serbian Uprising , during which Serbia...
s, from 1804 to 1815. The participants in these assemblies, except for a few rare cases, were invited by the Prince or by the Council, rather than elected by the people. Common-law assemblies were almost always held under the open sky, and thousands of people would attend. At one of them, the Sretenje Assembly, held on the day of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
religious holiday Sretenje (Presentation of Jesus), the first Serbian constitution – Sretenje Constitution – was ratified. In early September 1842, the "Defenders of the Constitution" (ustavobranioci) headed by Toma Vučić-Perišić, aided by the assembly, deposed Prince Mihailo
Mihailo Obrenovic III, Prince of Serbia
Mihailo Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.-Early life and first reign:...
and put Aleksandar Karađorđević in his place. Sixteen years later, at the St. Andrew's Day Assembly, they performed a dynastic coup and returned the Obrenović dynasty
House of Obrenovic
The House of Obrenović was a Serbian dynasty that ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1842, and again from 1858 to 1903. They came to power through the leadership of their progenitor Miloš Obrenović in the Second Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the formation of the Principality of...
to the throne.
According to the Act on the National Assembly passed at the St. Andrew's Day Assembly, the Assembly was named "The Serbian National Assembly". It kept this name until it ceased to exist in 1918. Serbian constitutions of 1835, 1869, 1888, 1901 and 1903 provide for a National Assembly as an institution and regulate the question of its work. Unlike them, the 1838 "Turkish" Constitution does not even mention a National Assembly.
According to the Acts on the National Assembly passed by Prince Miloš Obrenović (1860) and Prince Mihailo Obrenović
Mihailo Obrenovic III, Prince of Serbia
Mihailo Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.-Early life and first reign:...
(1861), the National Assembly was to meet every three years. The Assembly could be either ordinary or great. The great assembly was two or four times larger, according to the number of deputies, than the ordinary one. It was usually called when questions such as electing the Prince (or King) or changing the Constitution needed to be solved. Voting in the Assembly could either be individual (by name), by deputies' sitting or standing, or by secret ballot. Voting by name was administered when final texts of Acts were considered, and whenever the Government or at least twenty Deputies demanded it. Assembly officials were elected by secret ballot. The convening, opening, concluding, postponing, prolonging and dissolving of the Assembly were prerogatives of the Prince (or King). Assembly sittings were opened by the Prince's (or King's) Speech, responded to by the Assembly with the address.
Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the National Assembly were for a time elected by the Prince (or King) from among six candidates proposed by the Assembly; according to the 1888 and 1903 Constitutions, they were elected by the Assembly itself from among its members. One Deputy was elected for a set number of taxpayers. Initially, one Deputy was elected for 500 taxpayers, then for 1000, then 2000, and finally for 4500 taxpayers. This electoral formula determined the number of Deputies in the Assembly. At the St. Andrew's Day Assembly there were 437, and later the number oscillated between 120 and 160. Great National Assemblies could number more than 600 Deputies.
Suffrage was held by every native or naturalised Serb over 21 years of age and paying tax on his estate, work or income. Women did not have suffrage. Until 1888, public voting was practiced at elections for Deputies. The voter would publicly declare "whom he wanted for Deputy" at the polling station. The votes were noted and tallied. Secret ballot was introduced in the 1888 Constitution. It was performed with little balls. Apart from the Deputies elected by the people, the Assembly was also made up, according to the 1869 Constitution, of Deputies nominated by the Prince (or King). There was one nominated Deputy for every three elected ones. The 1888 and 1903 Constitutions provided for an Assembly comprised solely of elected Deputies.
According to the 1869 Constitution, all members of the Council of State were appointed by the Prince. According to the 1888 and 1903 Constitutions, eight were appointed by the King, and eight elected by the National Assembly.
As for legislation, no law could be passed, repealed, modified or interpreted without the assent of the National Assembly. However, until 1888 the right of legislative initiative was held not by the Assembly but by the Prince (or King) and the Government. In other words, the Assembly was subservient to the Government, not the Government to the Assembly. The Assembly was unicameral, except from 1901 to 1903. According to the 1901 Constitution, the Popular Representative Body was made up of two chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate.
A Deputy could not be under 30 years of age. One of the conditions for gaining the title of Deputy was to pay a certain amount to the State as immediate tax. Members of the Senate had to be at least 40 years of age. Eighteen of them were elected, and 30 appointed by the King for life. The Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
, on his coming of age, would also become a member; the Senate's number was completed by the Archbishop of Belgrade and the Bishop of Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
.
Cities where Assemblies met were Belgrade, Kragujevac
Kragujevac
Kragujevac is the fourth largest city in Serbia, the main city of the Šumadija region and the administrative centre of Šumadija District. It is situated on the banks of the Lepenica River...
and Niš. Common-law Assemblies, except for several held during the Uprisings, met in Belgrade and Kragujevac. During the First World War, the Serbian National Assembly also met in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
. Buildings where Assembly sittings were held: Belgrade - "The Great Beer Hall" (where the St. Andrew's Day Assembly met), the National Theatre
National Theatre in Belgrade
The National Theatre was founded in the latter half of the 19th century. It is located on Republic Square, in Belgrade, Serbia.The National Theatre was declared a Monument of Culture of Great Importance in 1983, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia....
, Captain Miša's Mansion
Captain Miša's Mansion
The Mansion of Miša Anastasijević is one of the most notable buildings in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the University of Belgrade's administration and governance building....
(the Great School), and the temporary building of the National Assembly near the present-day Odeon Cinema (from 1882); Kragujevac - the National Assembly Building erected by order of Prince Miloš in 1859; Niš - Saint Sava Elementary School near the Cathedral, and the building of the Officers' Club.
The first Chairman of the National Assembly (the St. Andrew's Day Assembly) was Major Miša Anastasijević
Miša Anastasijevic
Miša Anastasijević was the second richest man in Serbia in the 19th century, through his successful salt export from Wallachia and Moldavia and business partnership with the richest, Miloš Obrenović I, Prince of Serbia. He was also the Captain of Danube, and acquired significant benefits from...
. Political parties, the Liberal
Liberalism in Serbia
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Serbia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme...
, Progressive and People's Radical Party
People's Radical Party
The People's Radical Party of Serbia was a political party formed on January 8, 1881, which was active in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes...
, officially formed in the 1880s, gained the opportunity to become real participants in the struggle for power thanks to the 1888 Constitution. The most successful were the radicals, the creators of this Constitution.
By adopting the 1903 Constitution (in effect just a slightly altered 1888 Constitution), Serbia became a modern parliamentary state. The Constitution was passed without the monarch's participation and is considered one of the most liberal of contemporary European constitutions. One of the most important innovations introduced by the 1903 Constitution was that the model of royal superiority over the Assembly was abandoned.
During the Serbian-Ottoman War from 1876 to 1878, the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
from 1912 to 1913 and the First World War until the withdrawal across Albania
Serbian Campaign (World War I)
The Serbian Campaign was fought from late July 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia at the outset of the First World War, until late 1915, when the Macedonian Front was formed...
in October 1915, the Assembly was in permanent session. It passed several Acts on wartime loans, among others. When Niš was being evacuated in October 1915, the entire Assembly archives were destroyed by order of the Assembly's Presidency, so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy.
With the Act of Unification, on December 1, 1918, and the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the legislative function of all popular representative bodies in the unified state ceased. The Serbian National Assembly met for the last time on December 14, 1918. On the basis of a communication from the Royal Government, it elected 84 Deputies from its ranks to the Interim Popular Representative Body of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Serbia was given another 24 places for territories annexed to it in 1913. Deciding that elections for deputies in those areas should take place urgently, the Assembly ended its work, officially transferring its functions to the Interim Popular Representative Body. Deputies from Serbia made a lasting mark in the work of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After World War II
The historic roots of the National Assembly of Serbia in the period after the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
lie in the decision of the Second Meeting of the AVNOJ
AVNOJ
The Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, known more commonly by its Yugoslav abbreviation AVNOJ, was the political umbrella organization for the national liberation councils of the Yugoslav resistance against the World War II Axis occupation, eventually becoming the...
, held on November 29 and 30, 1943 in Jajce
Jajce
Jajce is a city and municipality located in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity...
, that Yugoslavia should be created on a federal basis as a union of five equal peoples. This decision grants the five peoples the right to self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
including separation. Representatives from Serbia also participated in the meeting; their presence was approved by a special declaration of adopted at a meeting of the Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia. The Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia was held from November 9 to November 12, 1944. The 989 Deputies of this Assembly were not elected by the people but were delegated from the People's Liberation Committees or co-opted from the People's Liberation Front
Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia or SSRNJ , formerly the People's Front , was the largest and most influential mass organization in SFR Yugoslavia from August 1945 through 1990. In 1990 its membership was thirteen million, including most of the adult population of the country...
. A decision was taken at the sitting to constitute the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia (ASNOS) as the highest body of legislative and executive government in Serbia. Two hundred and seventy eight deputies were elected from among the 989 present to make up the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia.
The Presidency, or Presidium of the National Assembly of Serbia existed until 1953 as a separate body with significant legislative and executive functions.
In April 1945, the Anti-fascist Assembly of People's Liberation of Serbia changed its name to National Assembly of Serbia. Later names of the assembly were: National Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia (February 1946 to April 1963); Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of modern day Serbia, which served as the biggest republic in the Yugoslav federation and held the largest population of all the Yugoslav...
(April 1963 to September 1990); Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (September 1990 to January 1991) and National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (since January 1991). The first Chairman of the National Assembly of Serbia after the Second World War was Sinisa Stankovic, PhD. The first woman to preside over a sitting of the Assembly was Milka Minić (at the sitting of the Great Anti-fascist People's Liberation Assembly of Serbia on November 12, 1944).
The first elections for the Assembly in Serbia after World War II were held on November 10, 1946. These were elections for the Constituent Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia. All Yugoslav citizens living on the territory of Serbia over 18 years of age had the right to vote. For the first time, women and soldiers had the right to vote. Elections were carried out on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot. Voting was performed with little balls until elections in November 1953, when ballot papers were introduced for the first time. Until 1963, one deputy was elected for a certain number of inhabitants (twenty, forty or fifty thousand). Therefore, the total number of Deputies differed. Thus, the Constituent Assembly numbered 287 Deputies, the 1951 Assembly had 315, while 291 Deputies were elected to the Council of the Republic and the Council of Producers of the People's Republic of Serbia in 1953.
The first Serbian Constitution after the Second World War was passed by the Constituent Assembly of the People's Republic of Serbia on January 17, 1947. Its seventh article is devoted to the National Assembly. The mandate of the National Assembly lasted for four years. Deputies' immunity from prosecution was guaranteed.
Until 1953, the National Assembly was unicameral. From 1953 to 1963 it had two chambers: the Council of the Republic and the Council of Producers; from 1963 to 1974 it was composed of five chambers: Council of the Republic, Council of Economy, Council of Education and Culture, Council of Social Security and Health, and the Organisational and Political Council. From 1974 to 1990 it had three chambers: the Council of Associated Labour, the Council of Municipalities and the Social and Political Council. The Assembly again became unicameral in January 1991. According to the 1963 Constitution, the Assembly is defined as the highest government and social self-management body within the rights and duties of the Republic. It numbered 440 Deputies, of which 120 formed the Council of the Republic, while the remaining four Councils each numbered 80 Deputies.
The Republic Executive Council (Government) was responsible to the Assembly for its work. Its members and President were elected by the Assembly. After the institution of the Council of the People into the Federal Assembly of the SFRY
Federal Assembly of the SFRY
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 , while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was changed to Federal Assembly...
in 1967, the Serbian Assembly elected 20 Deputies to that Council, whereas the Assemblies of the Autonomous Provinces each elected 10.
Assemblies of all Socialist Republics, including the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, agreed with the draft Constitution of the SFR Yugoslavia before its ratification by the Federal Assembly on February 21, 1974. The Constitution of the SR Serbia was passed on February 25, 1974. The hitherto-used system based on Deputies was replaced by a Delegate-based system, as well as a self-management
Workers' self-management
Worker self-management is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices instead of an owner or traditional supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it...
concept based on associated labour. The Council of Associated Labour, as one of the three Councils of the Assembly, had the most Delegates - 160. The other two, the Council of Municipalities and the Social and Political Council each had 90 Delegates. According to the Constitution of Serbia passed in 1974, the Assembly elected the members of the Presidency of the SR Serbia, the Council of the Republic and the Serbian member of the Presidency of the SFR Yugoslavia. The Presidency of the SR Serbia passed decrees proclaiming Acts adopted by the Assembly. The Council of the People of the Assembly of Yugoslavia changed its name to Council of the Republics and Provinces. The Serbian Assembly elected 12 Delegates to that Council, while Assemblies of the Socialist Autonomous Provinces elected 8 each.
Constitutional reform in Serbia began in January 1988 and ended on March 28, 1989 with the proclamation of Constitutional Amendments IX to XLIX. This day was marked as the day when a new Constitution was adopted and when Serbia's sovereignty was returned to her. It was made a national holiday. The new Constitution, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia was ratified on September 28, 1990. The Assembly's authority had not changed significantly. The Delegate-based system was abolished, and a Deputy-based one reintroduced. The Assembly is made up of 250 Deputies. The first multi-party elections for the National Assembly of Serbia after World War II were held on December 9 and 23, 1990, on the basis of a decision made by the National Assembly of Serbia on the calling of elections and previously passed Acts on the Election of Deputies and on Constituencies. Voter turnout was 5,030,440 people out of 7,036,303 eligible, or 71,49%. The Socialist Party of Serbia
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
won 194 seats, the Serbian Renewal Movement
Serbian Renewal Movement
The Serbian Renewal Movement is a political party in Serbia.It was founded in 1990.In 1997 a dissident group abandoned the party and formed New Serbia....
19, the Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians
Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians (Hungarian: Vajdasági Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége (VMDK), Serbian: Демократска заједница војвођанских Мађара (ДЗВМ), Demokratska zajednica vojvođanskih...
8, candidates of various Citizens' Groups 8, the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Serbia)
The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
7 etc. Slobodan Unković was elected Chairman of the first multi-party Assembly of Serbia.
Apart from a large number of laws, the Assembly passed, in 1991, several declarations on violence and crimes against the Serb people in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, on Croatia's secession and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's support for the secession. Extraordinary elections for the National Assembly
Serbian parliamentary election, 1992
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 20, 1992. The vote was held only two years after the previous election, as it was necessitated by the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the establishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,...
and the President of the Republic were held on December 20 and 27, 1992 and January 3, 1993. The Socialist Party of Serbia won 101 seats, the Serbian Radical Party
Serbian Radical Party
The Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
71, DEPOS - Democratic Movement of Serbia 50, etc. Zoran Lilić
Zoran Lilic
Zoran Lilić is a Serbian. He served as President of the National Assembly of Serbia in 1993 and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1997....
, MA was elected Chairman of the Assembly.
The Serbian Assembly elected 20 Deputies to the Chamber of the Republics of the Federal Assembly of FR Yugoslavia
Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro
The Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro was the legislative body of Serbia and Montenegro. The parliament was unicameral and was made up of 126 deputies, of which 91 were from Serbia and 35 were from Montenegro. The parliament was established in 2003, and was a replacement for the Federal...
.
In the elections held on December 19 and 26, 1993 and January 5, 1994
Serbian parliamentary election, 1993
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 19, 1993. The vote was held less than two years after the previous election. After the elections, the Socialist Party of Serbia formed the government with New Democracy, which had run as part of the Democratic Movement of...
, the Socialist Party of Serbia won 123 seats, DEPOS won 45, the Serbian Radical Party won 39, the Democratic Party won 29 etc. Dragan Tomić
Dragan Tomic
Dragan Tomić is a former Speaker of the National Assembly, holding the position from 1994 to 2001. A member of the Socialist Party of Serbia, he next became acting President of Serbia from 23 July to 29 December 1997.He was preceded by Slobodan Milošević and succeeded by Milan...
was elected Chairman of the Assembly.
At an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, held on February 11, 1997, for the first time in Serbian parliamentary life, a special law (Lex specialis
Lex specialis
Lex specialis, in legal theory and practice, is a doctrine relating to the interpretation of laws, and can apply in both domestic and international law contexts. The doctrine states that a law governing a specific subject matter overrides a law which only governs general matters...
) was passed. This was the Act on Confirming the Unofficial Results of Elections for Councillors of Municipal and City Assemblies Listed in the Report of the OSCE Mission. The elections in question had taken place on November 17, 1996.
Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly, held on September 21 and 28, 1997, and on October 5, 1997
Serbian parliamentary election, 1997
The elections for the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia held on 21 September 1997. Out of a total 7,210,386 voters, 4.139.080 voted. 164,307 ballots were invalid:...
, had the following outcome: the Coalition of the Socialist Party of Serbia, Yugoslav Left
Yugoslav Left
Yugoslav Left was a left-wing political party in Serbia and Montenegro. It was formed in 1994 as is a coalition of 23 left-wing and communist parties, led by the League of Communists - Movement for Yugoslavia . It has been led by Mirjana Marković, the wife of Slobodan Milošević...
and New Democracy won 110 seats, the Serbian Radical Party won 82 seats, the Serbian Renewal Movement won 45 seats, etc. The Chairman of the Assembly remained the same.
Throughout 1998 the Assembly took several turns to discuss the then current security situation as well as the economic and social conditions in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Albanian separatism. A referendum was called in order for citizens of Serbia to vote on whether they would allow foreign representatives to participate in the solution of problems in Kosovo and Metohija. Close to 95% of the 5,297,776 people who turned out to vote responded with a "no". In early February 1999, the National Assembly strongly condemned threats made by NATO to Yugoslavia. It did the same on March 23, after the Serbian delegation's talks in Rambouillet and Paris
Rambouillet Agreement
The Rambouillet Agreement is the name of a proposed peace agreement between then-Yugoslavia and a delegation representing the ethnic-Albanian majority population of Kosovo. It was drafted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and named for Chateau Rambouillet, where it was initially proposed...
. A day later, on March 24, 1999, NATO forces attacked Yugoslavia
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
. During the State of War, the Assembly held one sitting, on June 3, 1999. This session saw the passing of a decision to adopt the Document proposed to reach a peaceful solution of the crisis, which had been brought by the European Union and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's highest representatives, the President of the Republic of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
and the Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
, Viktor Chernomyrdin
Viktor Chernomyrdin
Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin was the founder and the first chairman of the Gazprom energy company, the longest serving Prime Minister of Russia and Acting President of Russia for a day in 1996. He was a key figure in Russian politics in the 1990s, and a great contributor to the Russian...
.
After the events of October 5, 2000, with the official confirmation of the victory of Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
, over Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
in the elections for the President of FR Yugoslavia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election, 2000
Presidential elections were held in Yugoslavia on 24 September 2000. They were won by Vojislav Koštunica of the Democratic Opposition, who beat Slobodan Milošević in the first round of voting.-Results:...
, the Serbian Assembly passed, on October 9, 2000, the Act on the Election of Deputies. According to it, all of Serbia is one constituency. An electoral list must be confirmed by at least 10,000 voters.
On October 25, 2000, the President of Serbia Milan Milutinović
Milan Milutinovic
Milan Milutinović is a former President of Serbia. He served as Director of the National Library of Serbia , Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Greece, Yugoslavia's Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs , and as President of Serbia from 1997 until 2002.After his presidential term...
dissolved the National Assembly, which had been constituted on December 3, 1997. Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly
Serbian parliamentary election, 2000
The first free democratic parliamentary election after the fall of Slobodan Milošević was held in the Republic of Serbia on 23 December 2000.-Results:...
were called for December 23, 2000. In the elections, out of 6,525,162 people eligible to vote 3,748,623, or 55,91%, turned out. The Democratic Opposition of Serbia
Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia , formed as a coalition against the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević in 2000...
(DOS) won 176 seats, the Socialist Party of Serbia won 37, the Serbian Radical Party won 23 and the Party of Serbian Unity
Party of Serbian Unity
The Party of Serbian Unity was a nationalist political party in the Serbia.The goals of the party included:*Unity of Serbian people*Keeping integrity of territory of Serbia...
won 14 seats. Dragan Maršićanin
Dragan Maršicanin
Dragan Maršićanin is a Serbian politician. He was the ambassador of Serbia to Switzerland, serving from 2004 to 2009. He was also Serbian Minister of Economy, but his position was put on hold when he decided to run for president in 2004...
was elected Speaker of the Assembly.
Building
The current Parliament building is located in downtown BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, on the Nikola Pašić Square
Nikola Pašic Square
Trg Nikole Pašića or Nikola Pašić Square is one of the central town squares and an urban neighborhoods of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Square is named after Nikola Pašić who served as mayor of Belgrade, prime minister of Serbia and prime minister of Yugoslavia...
№13, in front of Pioneer's Park. It is officially called Dom Narodne Skupštine (Дом Народне Скупштине, "House of the National Assembly"). The Parliament of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
moved into this building on 23 July 2006 following the dissolution
Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006
The Montenegrin independence referendum was a referendum on the independence of the Republic of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that was held on 21 May 2006.The total turnout of the referendum was 86.5%...
of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Prior to becoming the parliament of Serbia, it served as the seat of parliament for Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
(Kingdom
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, DFY, FPRY, SFRY
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
and FRY) and the State Union. During the time of Yugoslavia and the State Union, the parliament of Serbia convened in another building on Kralja Milana street.
Construction on the building started in 1907, with the cornerstone being laid by King Petar I. The building was based on a design made by Konstantin Jovanović
Konstantin Jovanović
Konstantin Jovanović was a prolific Serbian, Bulgarian and Austro–Hungarian architect known for providing the original designs of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and National Assembly of Serbia buildings.Jovanović was born in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire, to a...
in 1891; a variant of that design made by Jovan Ilkić, which won a competition in 1901. World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
delayed construction, and the original plans to the building were lost. Reconstruction of the plans were made by Ilkić's son Pavle. The interior was designed by Nikolaj Krasnov. It was designed in the manner of academic
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
alism. The construction of the building was completed in 1936 and the first session in the new edifice was held on October 20 of the same year. At the time, it was the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In September 1939, the Assembly was dissolved and during the Second World War it was occupied by the aggressor's civil administration for Serbia. Several decades after the end of the war, this was the building of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, in the 1990s, this edifice became the seat of the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and later the seat of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro
Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro
The Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro was the legislative body of Serbia and Montenegro. The parliament was unicameral and was made up of 126 deputies, of which 91 were from Serbia and 35 were from Montenegro. The parliament was established in 2003, and was a replacement for the Federal...
. On June 5, 2006, Serbia became an independent republic, thus, the parliament building became the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
The National Assembly House covers an area of 13,400 m2 and contains four floors: subterranean part, ground floor, first floor and attic and mezzanines – below the subterranean
part, between the subterranean part and ground floor and between the ground floor and first floor. The building contains 100 offices, great and small plenary halls and four committee halls with full conference equipment. All the halls are air-conditioned. The building is equipped with computers, printers, scanners and fax machines, has an internal television channel and computer network with a non-stop internet connection. The library, situated on the first floor of the National Assembly, has an area of 165 m2 and
contains over 60,000 books.
A sculpture by Toma Rosandić
Toma Rosandic
Toma Rosandić was a sculptor from Split, Croatia. Together with Ivan Meštrović , he was the most prominent of the Croatian sculptors of his day....
, Igrali se konji vrani ("Play of Black Horses"), was placed in front of the building in 1939.
A clip of the parliament building burning (which happened during the October fifth Overthrow) can be seen in the 2008 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. The screenplay is based on the 1940 classic science fiction short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates, and the 1951 screenplay adaptation by Edmund H...
. The building is shown on the five thousand Serbian dinar
Serbian dinar
The dinar is the currency of Serbia. An earlier currency also called dinar was used in Serbia between 1868 and 1918. The earliest use of the dinar date to 1214. Today's Serbian dinar is a continuation of the last Yugoslav dinar...
note. The parliament building also seems to have served as inspiration in the game Half-life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
, featured as the Overwatch Nexus. The parliament building was featured in the 2011 movie Coriolanus.
Group visits to the National Assembly are organised every day, between 9.00 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Former building
Before 2006, the National Assembly of Serbia convened in the building on Kralja Milana Street №14, while the current building was used for the federal parliament. This building is still used by the National Assembly, but not for sessions. It's offices are used for the National Assembly administration.The original design for this building was completed in 1948, and its construction was completed in late 1953. The building was designed by architect E. Azriel, and was constructed by the Construction Institute of Serbia. The Building was originally named the "Office Building of the Presidency of the Government of the People's Republic of Serbia at Marshal Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
Street №14" (later renamed to Kralja Milana street). The first National Assembly session in the building was held on March 20, 1954, while in the period between 1945 and 1954, the National Assembly sessions were held in the current building known as the House of the National Assembly, Nikola Pašić Square №13.
Current National Assembly
The current National Assembly was elected in the 2008 parliamentary electionsSerbian parliamentary election, 2008
A pre-term parliamentary election was held in the Serbia on 11 May 2008, barely a year after the previous parliamentary election. There were 6,749,886 eligible electors who were able to vote in 8,682 voting places, as well as 157 special voting places designed for refugees from...
.
Leadership
- President of the Assembly (speakerSpeaker (politics)The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
): Slavica Đukić Dejanović (Socialist Party of SerbiaSocialist Party of SerbiaThe Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
) - Vice-Presidents:
- Nataša Jovanović (Serbian Radical PartySerbian Radical PartyThe Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
) - Božidar DelićBožidar DelićBožidar Delić is a retired general of the Army of Yugoslavia and the current vice president of Serbian parliament....
(Serbian Radical PartySerbian Radical PartyThe Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
) - Gordana Čomić (Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (Serbia)The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
) - Nikola Novaković (G17 PlusG17 PlusG17 Plus , abbreviated to G17+, is a centre-right political party in Serbia. With 22 seats in the National Assembly, it is the third-largest party, and currently participates in a coalition with, amongst others, the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party...
) - Radojko ObradovićRadojko ObradovicRadojko Obradović is a Vice-President of the Serbian National Assembly. He was appointed to this position in 2007. He is a long standing MP for the Democratic Party of Serbia and represents the DSS in coalition with New Serbia. He is also the President of the Political Committee of the DSS...
(Democratic Party of SerbiaDemocratic Party of SerbiaThe Democratic Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia.-Foundation:The Democratic Party of Serbia was founded when a faction of the Democratic Party that supported its involvement in the Democratic Movement of Serbia split from the party and formed their own in 1992.Soon after the March...
) - Judita Popović (Liberal Democratic Party)
- Secretary: Veljko Odalović (Socialist Party of Serbia)