Presidency of Yugoslavia

Collective head of state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Presidency of Yugoslavia

Serbo-Croatian: Predsjedništvo SFRJ
Председништво СФРЈ
Slovene: Predsedstvo SFRJ
Macedonian: Председателство на СФРЈ

Standard of a Member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia

Best known officeholder
Josip Broz Tito
30 June 1971 – 4 May 1980

Term length| No fixed length
Formation| 30 June 1971
First holder| Josip Broz Tito
Final holder| Branko Kostić
Abolished| 15 June 1992

Politics of Yugoslavia

Constitution

* 1921
* 1931
* 1946
* 1953
* 1963
* 1974

* Executive
* Legislative

* Head of State
Deputy Head of State
* President (1953–80)
* Vice President (1963–67)
* Presidency (1971–91)
* President of the Presidency (1980–91)
* Vice President of the Presidency (1971–91)
* Members
* Government (1918–53)
* Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
* Assembly (list)
* President
* Federal Executive Council (1953–92)
* President (1963–92)
* Federal Council for Protection of the Constitutional Order (1975–92)

Elections

* Constituent

1920
* Parliamentary

* 1923
* 1925
* 1927
* 1931
* 1935
* 1938
* 1945
* 1950
* 1953
* 1958
* 1963
* 1969
* 1974
* 1978
* 1982
* 1986
* 1989

* Political parties

Administrative divisions

* Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Banovina of Croatia
Subdivisions
* SFR Yugoslavia

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina

SR Croatia
SR Macedonia
SR Montenegro
SR Serbia

SAP Kosovo
SAP Vojvodina
SR Slovenia

Breakup

* Yugoslav Wars

* (Slovenian
* Croatian
* Bosnian)

Foreign relations

* Tripartite Pact
* Allies
* United Nations
* Non-Aligned Movement
* Organisation of African Unity
* European Communities

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia[a] was the standing organ of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was established in 1971 according to amendments to the 1963 Constitution and reorganized by the 1974 Constitution. Up to 1974, the Presidency had 23 members – three from each republic, two from each autonomous province and President Josip Broz Tito.[1] In 1974 the Presidency was reduced to 9 members – one from each republic and autonomous province and, until 1988, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia ex officio.

## Constitutional powers

[edit]

According to the 1974 Constitution, the Presidency had following powers:[2]

* representing the federation both inside and outside the country
* commanding the Yugoslav People's Army, deciding on using the army both in war and in peace
* protecting equality of Yugoslav nationalities
* protecting the constitutional order
* proposing a candidate for the federal prime minister
* proposing candidates for the federal constitutional court
* appointing the ambassadors and generals and admirals
* appointing the National Defense Council and, if needed, also other agencies (one of such was Federal Council for Protection of the Constitutional Order)
* giving quarters and awarding state decorations

The Presidency had eight members elected by assemblies of each republic and autonomous province and proclaimed by the Federal Assembly of the SFRY, the ninth member was the president of the Presidency of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. This ex officio membership of the LCY leader was abolished by the constitutional changes in autumn 1988.[3] The mandate of the Presidency lasted five years so the nine-member Presidency was elected in total four times - in 1974, 1979, 1984 and 1989.

Until 1980 most of powers of the Presidency (and control over the country in general) were in fact exercised by Josip Broz Tito, who, under Article 333 of the new constitution, was elected president of the republic for an unlimited mandate. After his death in May 1980, his office was automatically abolished and the Presidency began to function according to the constitution.

Sometimes, the Presidency held its sessions in an extended composition. Besides the members of the actual Presidency, in such sessions the following officials took part: chairman of the Federal Assembly, chairman and vice-chairman of the Federal Executive Council (the government), federal secretaries (ministers) of defense, interior and foreign affairs, chairman of the Federal Conference of the Socialist Alliance of Working People and chairmen of the presidencies of the Yugoslav republics and autonomous provinces.[4] The extended Presidency was an advisory council not grounded in the Constitution and as such its decisions were legally non-binding.

## Post-Tito period

[edit]

Tito, as a president of the republic, was ex officio president of the Presidency. After his death a new president of the Presidency was elected every year. The order of rotating of the members on the leading position was agreed in advance, so this annual election was a pure formality. The rotating system jammed only in May 1991 -Stipe Mesić, representative of Franjo Tuđman's new Croatian government in the Presidency, was about to become the president but wasn't elected due to opposition of a half of the Presidency controlled by Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević. The top state office of the disintegrating federation remained vacant until 1 July when Mesić was finally elected.[5] [6]

Only one year after Tito's death, Yugoslav leaders had to face violent riots in Kosovo. On 2 April 1981 the Presidency under president Cvijetin Mijatović declared a state of emergency in Priština and Kosovska Mitrovica, which lasted one week.[7][8] The Presidency declared a state of emergency again, that time on the whole territory of Kosovo, on 27 February 1989 under president Raif Dizdarević, when even more serious disorders in Kosovo broke out.[8][9] For the third time in post-Tito Yugoslavia, a state of emergency in Kosovo was imposed by the Presidency in February 1990.[10]

The composition of the last Presidency elected in May 1989 reflected both approach of political pluralism in some parts of the federation and the beginning of agony in Yugoslavia:

* Janez Drnovšek from Slovenia and Bogić Bogićević from Bosnia and Herzegovina were elected in direct elections held in their republics[11][12]
* representatives of Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Vojvodina, i.e. half of the Presidency, were acting under de facto control of Slobodan Milošević[6][13]
* Stipe Šuvar, Croat representative of strongly pro-Yugoslav opinions,[14] was in October 1990 replaced by Stipe Mesić nominated by Croatian government.[15]

In summer 1991 Mesić and Drnovšek, regarding their republics independent, ceased to attend sessions of the Presidency. They were followed by Bogićević and Vasil Tupurkovski from Macedonia, so that the Presidency de facto ceased to exist, although the members from Serbia, its autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina) and Montenegro continued to regard themselves as Yugoslav and so held sessions until 1992 when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed, this time with an individual head of state elected by the federal assembly.[6]

## Composition (1971–1992)

[edit]

Presidency 1971–1974

Name  | Term of chairmanship  | Representing
Josip Broz Tito | 30 June 1971 – 15 May 1974 | President of the Republic, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Vidoje Žarković
Veljko Mićunović
Dobroslav Ćulafić |  | SR Montenegro
Josif Rajačić
Replaced by Sreten Kovačević
Maćaš Keleman
Replaced by Mrs. Ida Sabo |  | SAP Vojvodina
Ilaz Kurteshi
Veli Deva |  | SAP Kosovo
Nikola Minčev
Krste Crvenkovski
Kiro Gligorov
Replaced by Lazar Koliševski |  | SR Macedonia
Hamdija Pozderac
Ratomir Dugonjić
Augustin Papić |  | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sergej Kraigher
Marko Bulc
Mitja Ribičič |  | SR Slovenia
Dragoslav Marković
Dobrivoje Vidić
Koča Popović
Replaced by Dragi Stamenković |  | SR Serbia
Jakov Blažević
Đuro Kladarin
Miko Tripalo
Replaced by Milan Mišković |  | SR Croatia
Presidency 1974–1979
Josip Broz Tito | 15 May 1974 – 15 May 1979 | President of the Republic, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Vidoje Žarković |  | SR Montenegro
Stevan Doronjski |  | SAP Vojvodina
Fadil Hoxha |  | SAP Kosovo
Lazar Koliševski |  | SR Macedonia
Cvijetin Mijatović |  | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Edvard Kardelj1
1979 Sergej Kraigher |  | SR Slovenia
Petar Stambolić |  | SR Serbia
Vladimir Bakarić |  | SR Croatia
Presidency 1979–1984
Josip Broz Tito1 | 15 May 1979 – 4 May 1980 | President of the Republic, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Vidoje Žarković |  | SR Montenegro
Stevan Doronjski1
1981 Radovan Vlajković |  | SAP Vojvodina
Fadil Hoxha |  | SAP Kosovo
Lazar Koliševski | 4 May 1980 – 15 May 1980 | SR Macedonia
Cvijetin Mijatović | 15 May 1980 – 15 May 1981 | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sergej Kraigher | 15 May 1981 – 15 May 1982 | SR Slovenia
Petar Stambolić | 15 May 1982 – 15 May 1983 | SR Serbia
Vladimir Bakarić1
1983 Mika Špiljak |
15 May 1983 – 15 May 1984 | SR Croatia
1980 Stevan Doronjski
1980 Lazar Mojsov
1981 Dušan Dragosavac
1982 Mitja Ribičič
1983 Dragoslav Marković |  | League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Presidency 1984–1989
Veselin Đuranović | 15 May 1984 – 15 May 1985 | SR Montenegro
Radovan Vlajković | 15 May 1985 – 15 May 1986 | SAP Vojvodina
Sinan Hasani | 15 May 1986 – 15 May 1987 | SAP Kosovo
Lazar Mojsov | 15 May 1987 – 15 May 1988 | SR Macedonia
Branko Mikulić2
1986 Hamdija Pozderac3
1987 Raif Dizdarević |

15 May 1988 – 15 May 1989 | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Stane Dolanc |  | SR Slovenia
Nikola Ljubičić |  | SR Serbia
Josip Vrhovec |  | SR Croatia
1984 Ali Shukri
1985 Vidoje Žarković
1986 Milanko Renovica
1987 Boško Krunić
1988 Stipe Šuvar
(until November 1988) |  | League of Communists of Yugoslavia
Presidency 1989–1992
Dragutin Zelenović5
1990 Jugoslav Kostić |  | SAP Vojvodina
Riza Sapunxhiu6
1991 Sejdo Bajramović |  | SAP Kosovo
Vasil Tupurkovski |  | SR Macedonia / Republic of Macedonia
Bogić Bogićević |  | SR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Janez Drnovšek | 15 May 1989 – 15 May 1990 | SR Slovenia / Republic of Slovenia
Borisav Jović | 15 May 1990 – 15 May 1991 | SR Serbia / Republic of Serbia
Stipe Šuvar4
1990 Stipe Mesić |
1 July 1991 – 3 October 1991 | SR Croatia / Republic of Croatia
Nenad Bućin7
1991 Branko Kostić |
6 December 1991 – 15 June 1992
(acting) | SR Montenegro

### Notes

[edit]

1. Died while holding the office
2. Resigned when he became Chairman of the Federal Executive Council
3. Resigned due to accusation of participation in the Agrokomerc scandal
4. Recalled by the Croatian Parliament
5. Recalled by the Serbian Parliament
6. Recalled by the Serbian Parliament
7. Recalled by the Montenegrin Parliament

## Members

[edit]

* List of members of the Presidency of Yugoslavia

## See also

[edit]

* List of heads of state of Yugoslavia
* President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia
* Vice President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia
* Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
* Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Председништво СФРЈ, romanized: Predsedništvo SFRJ, Predsjedništvo SFRJ, Slovene: Predsedstvo SFRJ, Macedonian: Председателство на СФРЈ, romanized: Predsedatelstvo na SFRJ

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Slobodan Stankovic (1984): Yugoslavia's New State Presidency Archived 2011-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Constitution of the SFRY, 1974 (in Serbian)
3. ^ Amendments to the Constitution of the SFRY, 1988 (in Serbian)
4. ^ "Interview with Raif Dizdarević (in Serbo-Croatian)". Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
5. ^ Biography of Stipe Mesić (in Croatian) Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ a b c Interview with Vasil Tupurkovski, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian) Archived 2008-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Slobodan Stankovic (1982): Kosovo: One year after the riots at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
8. ^ a b Interview with Raif Dizdarević at the Wayback Machine (archive index), Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian)
9. ^ Timetable of the conflicts in Kosovo
10. ^ Chronology of Yugoslavia's break-up (in Croatian) Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
11. ^ Interview with Bogić Bogićević, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian) Archived 2008-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
12. ^ Janez Drnovšek on the English Wikipedia
13. ^ Interview with Stipe Mesić, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian) Archived 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ Stipe Suvar obituary[dead link]
15. ^ Interview with Stipe Šuvar, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian) Archived 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine

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Presidential system in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

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Yugoslavia articles

History|

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Breakup|

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Breakup of Yugoslavia

Overview|

* Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–1992)
* Timeline of the breakup of Yugoslavia (1980–2008)

Background|

* Josip Broz Tito (until 1980)
* Brotherhood and unity (until 1990)
* League of Communists of Yugoslavia (until 1990)
* Croatian Spring (1967–1971)
* Islamic Declaration (1970)
* Protests in Kosovo (1981)
* Sarajevo Process (1983)
* SANU Memorandum (1986)
* Contributions to the Slovene National Program (1987)
* Slovene Spring (1987–1988)
* Agrokomerc Affair (1987)
* 8th session of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia (1987)
* JBTZ trial (1988)
* Neum Affair [bs] (1988–1989)
* Hyperinflation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1980s)

Events and actors|

* Anti-bureaucratic revolution (1988–1989)
* Gazimestan speech (1989)
* 14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1990)
* Independence of Croatia (1989–1992)
* Log Revolution (1990–1991)
* Milošević–Tuđman Karađorđevo meeting (1991)
* RAM Plan (1991)
* Brioni Agreement (1991)
* Role of the media in the breakup of Yugoslavia
* Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia (1991–1993)

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Independence referendums in Yugoslavia

Republics and provinces|

* Slovenia (1990)
* Croatia (1991)
* Macedonia (1991)
* Kosovo (1991)
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* Montenegro (1992)
* Montenegro (2006)

Autonomy|

* Krajina (1990)
* Sandžak (1991)
* Srpska (1991)
* Ilirida (1992)
* Eastern Slavonia (1997)
* Macedonia (2004)

Consequences|

* Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001)
* Ethnic cleansing
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* Ten-Day War (1991)
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* Croat–Bosniak War (1992–1994)
* Intra-Bosnian Muslim War (1993–1995)
* Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992–2003)
* Graz agreement (1992)
* International sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2001)
* Hyperinflation in Serbia and Montenegro (1992–1994)
* Washington Agreement (1994)
* Dayton Agreement (1996)
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* Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević (2000)

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