National Assembly (Serbia)

History

The oldest Serbian assembly with extant records is the council against Bogomilism convened by Stefan Nemanja at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul near Stari Ras in the late 12th century. A joint gathering of state and church, it considered the case of the Bogomils, regarded as heretics by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The assembled nobility voted by majority to condemn and ban the Bogomils and to break off relations with them.

The outbreak of the Serbian Revolution in the early 19th century led to the establishment in 1805 of a proto-assembly, the People's Council (Народни совјет, Narodni sovjet). Assemblies of this period were convened by the Prince or the Governing Council and were usually held in the open air, often attended by thousands of people. The first Serbian constitution, the Sretenje Constitution, was ratified at one of them, the Sretenje Assembly.

In the early 1840s, the conservative Defenders of the Constitution emerged as the dominant political force. Led by Toma Vučić Perišić and backed by the Assembly, they deposed Prince Mihailo of the House of Obrenović in 1842 and installed Prince Alexander of the rival House of Karađorđević. After this coup, they held a majority in every assembly convened during the period.

The modern National Assembly dates from the Saint Andrew's Day Assembly of 1858, at which the Defenders of the Constitution restored the House of Obrenović to the throne. Named the Serbian National Assembly, it kept that name until 1918. Sessions were initially held every three years, and later annually. The first act on deputies and the first rules of procedure were adopted in 1870.

The Assembly met either as an ordinary assembly or as a Great Assembly, which was convened to elect the Prince (later King) or to adopt or amend the Constitution. Convening, opening, closing, adjourning, extending and dissolving the Assembly were prerogatives of the monarch, whose speech opened each session and was answered by an address from the Assembly. Voting was by roll call, by sitting or standing, or by secret ballot; roll-call votes were required on the final texts of acts and whenever the Government or at least twenty deputies requested one. The chairman and deputy chairmen were at first appointed by the monarch from six candidates proposed by the Assembly, and from the 1888 Constitution onwards they were elected by the deputies.

One deputy was initially elected for every 500 taxpayers, a ratio later raised to 1,000, 2,000 and finally 4,500, so that the ordinary Assembly numbered between 120 and 160 deputies; Great National Assemblies could exceed 600. Suffrage was held by every native or naturalised male citizen over 21 who paid tax on property, labour or income; women could not vote. Until 1888, voting was public: each voter declared his choice aloud at the polling station. The 1888 Constitution introduced the secret ballot, cast with small rubber balls. The Assembly was unicameral except between 1901 and 1903. Deputies enjoyed immunity: they could not be held to account, detained or imprisoned without the Assembly's consent, and even when caught in the act, the Assembly had to be consulted before prosecution. During the Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878), the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and the first years of World War I (1914–1915), the Assembly sat in permanent session.

With the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, the Serbian National Assembly ceased to exist. It met for the last time on 14 December 1918, to elect 84 of its members to the Temporary National Representation of the new kingdom.

After World War II, Serbia became one of the six constituent republics of socialist Yugoslavia. The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Serbia (ASNOS), held in Belgrade from 9 to 12 November 1944, was attended by 989 deputies who were not elected but delegated by the people's liberation committees formed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In 1945, ASNOS transformed itself into the People's Assembly of Serbia. The Communists ran unopposed in the 1945 elections, which the opposition boycotted in protest at coercion and intimidation by the OZNA secret police and the Communist Party. A single-party system followed, with the Communist Party of Serbia as a branch of the Yugoslav party, and it lasted until 1990.

The 1990 Constitution established the present-day National Assembly as a unicameral body of 250 deputies, reintroduced a multi-party system, and replaced the delegate system with directly elected deputies.

Organisation

President and vice-presidents

The President of the National Assembly (Председник Народне скупштине, Predsednik Narodne skupštine) represents the Assembly, convenes and presides over its sittings, and performs other official duties. The Assembly elects its President and one or more vice-presidents by a majority vote of all deputies; by convention, most parliamentary groups receive a vice-presidency. When the President is absent, a vice-president designated by them stands in; if none has been designated, the oldest vice-president does so. Together they form the presidium of the Assembly.

Secretariat-General

The Secretariat-General of the National Assembly (Генерални секретаријат Народне скупштине, Generalni sekretarijat Narodne skupštine) is responsible for the Assembly's administrative work. It is headed by the Secretary-General, currently Srđan Smiljanić, who is appointed by the Assembly and is not a deputy. The Secretary-General assists the President and vice-presidents in preparing and chairing sittings. Their term ends when a newly elected Assembly is constituted, although they continue in office until a successor is appointed.

Composition

Parliamentary elections are held when the four-year term of the previous convocation expires, or earlier if the Assembly dismisses the Government, or the Government resigns and no new majority can be formed. Regular elections are called by the President of Serbia 90 days before the end of the Assembly's term and held within the following 60 days. Elections use closed-list proportional representation, with the whole country forming a single constituency and the 250 seats distributed among lists using the D'Hondt method. Only lists that win more than 3% of the vote receive seats, although the threshold does not apply to ethnic minority lists. The first sitting of a new Assembly is convened by the outgoing President of the National Assembly, no later than 30 days after the final results are announced.

Deputies

The National Assembly has 250 deputies (народни посланици, narodni poslanici). Deputies may not hold other offices that would create a conflict of interest, and they enjoy parliamentary immunity. If a deputy's mandate ends before the end of the term, the seat passes to the next candidate on the same electoral list who did not receive a mandate; on a coalition list, it passes to the next such candidate from the same party.

Parliamentary groups

Any five or more deputies may form a recognised parliamentary group (посланичка група, poslanička grupa), and each deputy may belong to only one group at a time. Although groups are mostly based on the electoral lists from the preceding election, many combine several parties and independents. Small parties with similar views often form joint groups to secure privileges they would not otherwise have, such as additional speaking time and committee seats. Each group is led by a president, usually assisted by one or more vice-presidents; in groups made up of several parties, a vice-president is typically drawn from a junior party. The group presidents meet regularly with the President of the National Assembly to arrange the agenda of plenary sittings.

Committees

Assembly committees (скупштински одбори, skupštinski odbori) are standing committees established to consider matters within the Assembly's competence, propose acts, and review the policies, laws, by-laws and other regulations implemented by the Government, each within its own field. There are 20 standing committees, each of which may set up sub-committees. Before the Assembly debates a bill, it is considered by the relevant committees and by the Government, if the Government did not propose it; either may recommend that the Assembly adopt or reject it. Parliamentary groups nominate committee members in proportion to their number of deputies.

Procedure

The Rules of Procedure govern the organisation and work of the Assembly and the exercise of deputies' rights and duties.

The first sitting of a newly elected Assembly is chaired by its oldest deputy, a role similar to that of the Father of the House in other parliaments, assisted by the youngest deputy from each of the four lists that won the most seats and by the outgoing Secretary-General. At this sitting, the President of the National Assembly, the vice-presidents and the members of the committees are elected, and the Secretary-General is appointed.

The Assembly meets in two regular sessions each year, beginning on the first working days of March and October. It may be convened in extraordinary session, with a set agenda, at the request of at least one-third of the deputies or of the Government, and it convenes without notice upon the declaration of a state of war or emergency. The agenda is proposed by the President of the National Assembly. A quorum requires the presence of one-third of the deputies, or at least 126 deputies on voting days. Decisions are taken by a majority of the deputies present, who may vote for, vote against, or abstain.

Laws and other acts may be proposed by any deputy, by the Government, by the assemblies of the autonomous provinces, or by at least 30,000 voters. The Ombudsman and the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia may also propose laws within their competence. At the request of a majority of all deputies or of at least 100,000 voters, the Assembly may call a referendum on matters within its competence.

The President of the Republic may dissolve the Assembly on a reasoned proposal from the Government, but the Government may not make such a proposal while a motion for its own dismissal is pending. The Assembly is also dissolved if it fails to elect a Government within 90 days of being constituted. It may not be dissolved during a state of war or emergency. A dissolved Assembly performs only current or urgent tasks; if a state of war or emergency is declared, its full powers are restored until the state of war or emergency ends.

House of the National Assembly

The National Assembly meets in the House of the National Assembly on Nikola Pašić Square in Belgrade. Originally built for the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbia, it later housed the Assembly of Yugoslavia and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro.

The neo-Baroque building covers about 13,400 m2 (144,000 sq ft) and includes some 100 offices, two chambers, four conference rooms and a central vestibule beneath a dome. The 165-square-metre (1,780 sq ft) library on the first floor holds more than 60,000 books.