National Assembly (Serbia)

The oldest Serbian parliament with extant records was held at Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Stari Ras in 11th century and was recorded as the Nemanja's Council (Sabor) against Bogomilism. It was a civil-church-state council in environment of condemnation of Bogomilism, asserted as heretical both by Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church. A votation was drawn up for the Serbian nobility on Bogomil case. Majority decided to condemn, ban, and suspend relations with Bogomils. The beginning of the 19th century and the outbreak of the Serbian Revolution saw the establishment of proto-assembly called People's Council () in 1805. Those assemblies were convened either by the Prince or by the Governing Council and were almost always held in the open spaces with hundreds and often thousands of people attending. At one of them, the Sretenje Assembly, the first Serbian constitution, Sretenje Constitution, was ratified. In early 1840s, major political force emerged at the time, the conservative Defenders of the Constitution. Headed by Toma Vučić Perišić, and aided by the Assembly, in 1842, they deposed Prince Mihailo of the house of Obrenović and put Prince Alexander of rival house of Karađorđević in his place. After the dynastic coup in 1842, the Defenders of the Constitution were having a majority in each of the assemblies convened during this period. to Prince Miloš Obrenović, 1859 The modern National Assembly was established at the Saint Andrew's Day Assembly in 1858 when the Defenders of the Constitution performed a dynastic coup again, this time returning the house of Obrenović to the throne. The assembly was named the Serbian National Assembly and it kept its name until it ceased to exist in 1918, after formation of unified Yugoslav state. Sessions were initially held every three years, although this was later changed over the time, and sessions were either held once a year. The first act regarding MPs and first set of rules of procedure were adopted in 1870. The Assembly could be either ordinary or great. Great Assembly was usually convened for electing the Prince (or King) or changing/adopting the Constitution. The convening, opening, concluding, postponing, prolonging, and dissolving of the Assembly were prerogatives of the Prince (or King). Sessions were opened by the Prince's (or King's) speech, responded to by the Assembly with the address. Voting was either individual (by name) i.e. by deputy 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. Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the assembly were at first time elected by the Prince (or King) from six candidates proposed by the Assembly; since adoption of the 1888 Constitutions, they were elected by the deputies. Initially, every deputy was elected for 500 taxpayers, then for 1000, then 2000, and finally for 4,500 taxpayers, and with that electoral formula the number of deputies were determined, oscillating between 120 and 160 (Great National Assemblies could number more than 600 deputies). Suffrage was held by every native or naturalised Serbian citizen 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: 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 and was performed with little balls. The Assembly was unicameral, except from 1901 to 1903. Deputies could not be called to account, held in custody or imprisoned without the Assembly's authorisation. Even if they were caught in the act, the Assembly's opinion on whether they should be judicially prosecuted had to be heard. During the Serbian-Ottoman Wars (1876–1878), the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the World War I (1914–1915), the Assembly was in permanent session. With the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1918, the Serbian National Assembly ceased to exist. The Serbian National Assembly met for the last time on December 14, 1918, to elect 84 Deputies from its ranks to the Interim Popular Representative Body of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. After the World War II, Serbia became one of the six constituent republics of the new socialist, federal Yugoslav state. The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Serbia (ASNOS), held from 9 to 12 November 1944 in Belgrade, was attended by 989 deputies. They were not elected by the people, but delegated from the ranks of the people's liberation committees, formed by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. In 1945, the ASNOS transformed itself into the People's Assembly of Serbia. After the war, the Communists ran unopposed in the 1945 elections; all opposition parties boycotted the elections due to coercion and intimidation by the OZNA secret police and the Communist Party, aimed at eliminating electoral dissent. Once in power, the Communists introduced a single-party political system, with the Communist Party of Yugoslavia as the ruling party and the Communist Party of Serbia as a branch party. This system lasted until 1990 and the adoption of the new Serbian constitution. The 1990 Constitution established the present-day National Assembly, as a unicameral body with 250 deputies. By its provisions, multi-party political system was reintroduced, the delegate-based system was replaced by a deputy-based one. ==President of the National Assembly==

The President of the National Assembly () represents the National Assembly, convokes its sessions, presides over them, and performs other official activities. By means of majority votes of all deputies, the National Assembly elects the president of the assembly and one or more vice-presidents (deputy speakers), usually one vice-president from each parliamentary group. In case the president of the assembly is temporarily absent, one of the vice-presidents designated by them stands in for them. If the president of the assembly does not designate any of the vice-presidents to stand in for them, the oldest vice-president shall stand in for them. ==Secretariat-General of the National Assembly==

The Secretariat-General of the National Assembly () is a body in charge of administrative work of the assembly. It is headed by the Secretary-General of the National Assembly who is appointed by the National Assembly and is not a deputy. Secretary-General assists the president of the assembly and vice-presidents in preparing and chairing sessions. His/her term of office is terminated upon the constitution of a newly elected assembly, while he/she shall continue discharging duties until the appointment of a new secretary-general. ==Composition==

The National Assembly is composed of deputies elected on the basis of direct, universal, and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Parliamentary elections are held after the four-year term of the previous convocation of the National Assembly has expired, but can also be held before that if the National Assembly dismisses the Government or the Government resigns and no majority can be reached to elect a new Government. Elections are called by the President of Serbia 90 days before the end of the term of convocation of the National Assembly, so that elections are held within the following 60 days. Elections are closed party-list proportional with the entire country one electoral district and 250 seats then distributed between the lists using d'Hondt method. There is a minimum voting threshold of 3% so that only the party lists which get more than 3% of the votes are awarded the seats. There is no threshold for the ethnic minority party lists. After the elections, the first session of the new Assembly is convened by the President of the National Assembly from the previous convocation, so that the session is held not later than 30 days from the day of announcement of the final election results. Deputies The National Assembly is composed of 250 deputies (). Deputies may not hold dual functions which represent a conflict of interest. Deputies enjoy parliamentary immunity. If deputy's mandate ended before the dissolution of the assembly, the right to fill the vacant position is awarded to the first candidate from the same electoral list who was not awarded a mandate and that, in the event of a resignation of a member elected on a coalition list, the vacant mandate would fall to the first candidate on the list from the same party who was not awarded a mandate. Parliamentary groups Any grouping of five or more deputies can be officially recognised as a parliamentary group (), with each deputy permitted to be members of only a single group at any one time. Although groups are mostly based on electoral lists from the parliamentary elections, groups are often a diverse collection of different parties as well as independents. This is due to Serbia's complex multi-party system, with many parties having a presence in the legislature; parties with similar ideology, but low representation, are therefore inclined to cooperate and form joint parliamentary groups together to secure more privileges they would otherwise not be entitled to, such as additional speaking time and committee assignments. The parliamentary groups are each led by a president, who are usually assisted by a number of vice-presidents; it is common practice for heterogeneous groups (i.e. ones which comprise two or more parties) to have a vice-president from the junior party in the group. The presidents of the parliamentary groups regularly meet with the President of the National Assembly to discuss and arrange the agenda for plenary sessions. Committees Assembly committees () are standing committees 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 20 standing committees, and each committee may 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 Assembly 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 assembly committee proportionally to the number of deputies they have at the National Assembly. ==Procedure==

The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly regulate the organisation and work of the assembly and the manner in which the deputies' rights and duties are exercised. The first session of the newly-elected assembly is convened by the President of the National Assembly from the previous convocation. The first sitting of the assembly is chaired by the oldest deputy, function similar to the father of the house in common-law countries. The oldest deputy 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-General of the National Assembly from the previous convocation. At the first sitting of the assembly, the President of the National Assembly, vice-presidents, and the members of the assembly committees are elected and the Secretary-General 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 an announcement upon the declaration of the state of war or state of emergency. The proposed agenda for a National Assembly sitting is prepared by the President of the National Assembly. A quorum for the work of the assembly exists if a minimum of one-third of deputies are present at the assembly sitting. The quorum for the work of the assembly on voting days exists if at least 126 deputies are present at the sitting. The National Assembly adopts decisions by majority vote of deputies at the session at which the majority of deputies are present. The deputies vote "For" a motion, "Against" a motion, or abstain from voting. 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 the Governor of the 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 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 state of emergency. The National Assembly, which has been dissolved, only performs current or urgent tasks. In case of declaration of the state of war or state of emergency, its full competence is re-established and lasts until the end of the state of war, that is, emergency. ==House of the National Assembly==

The National Assembly convenes in the House of the National Assembly, located on Nikola Pašić Square, Belgrade. Originally intended to be the House of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Serbia, it was the seat of the Assembly of Yugoslavia and the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro. Covering about , building is designed in neo-baroque and includes some 100 offices, two chambers, four conference rooms, and a central vestibule topped by a dome. The library, on the first floor, contains over 60,000 books. ==See also==