National Assembly (Serbia)

The National Assembly (Serbian: Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, pronounced [nǎːrodnaː skûpʃtina]) or Parliament (Serbian: Парламент, Parlament, pronounced [parlameːnt]), formally the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Народна скупштина Републике Србије, romanized: Narodna skupština Republike Srbije), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms on the basis of direct, universal, and equal suffrage by secret ballot. It is presided over by a President of the National Assembly (speaker), who is assisted by at least one vice-president (deputy speaker).

The National Assembly exercises supreme legislative power. It adopts and amends the Constitution, laws, elects Government, appoints state officials such as the Supreme Public Prosecutor, Ombudsman, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, President of the State Audit Institution. All decisions are made by majority vote of deputies at the session at which a majority of deputies are present, except for amending the Constitution, when a two-thirds majority is needed.

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 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 (Serbian: Народни совјет, romanized: Narodni sovjet) 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.

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.