bs, Predsjedništvo SFRJ
Slovene: ''Predsedstvo SFRJ''
mk, Председателство на СФРЈ , flag = Standard of a Member of the Presidency of SFR Yugoslavia.svg , flagsize = 125px , flagborder = , flagcaption = Standard of a Member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , insignia = , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = , image = Josip Broz Tito uniform portrait.jpg , imagesize = 165px , imagecaption = Best known officeholder

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

30 June 1971 – 4 May 1980 , alt = , incumbent = , acting = , incumbentsince = , type = , status = , department = , style = , member_of = , reports_to = , residence = , seat = , nominator = , appointer = , appointer_qualified = , termlength = No fixed length , termlength_qualified = , constituting_instrument = , precursor = , formation = 30 June 1971 , first =

, last = Branko Kostić , abolished = 15 June 1992 , succession = , abbreviation = , unofficial_names = , deputy = , salary = , website = The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( sr, Председништво СФРЈ, Predsedništvo SFRJ, Bosnian and hr, Predsjedništvo SFRJ, sl, Predsedstvo SFRJ, mk, Председателство на СФРЈ, Predsedatelstvo na SFRJ) was the

collective head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. It was established in 1971 according to amendments to the 1963 Constitution and reorganized by the 1974 Constitution. Up to 1974, the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

had 23 members – three from each

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, two from each

autonomous province Autonomous province is a term for a type of province that has administrative autonomy.Collins Dictiona ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. 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 mk, Претседател на Претседателството на Сојузот на комунистите на Југославија , insignia = , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = Emblem of the Party , image = Jo ...

''ex officio''.

Constitutional powers

According to the 1974 Constitution, the Presidency had following powers: * representing the federation both inside and outside the country * commanding the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

, 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 federal constitutional judges * 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 parliaments of each republic and autonomous province and proclaimed by the

Federal Assembly of the SFRY Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

, the ninth member was

president of the Presidency of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia mk, Претседател на Претседателството на Сојузот на комунистите на Југославија , insignia = , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = Emblem of the Party , image = Jo ...

. This ex officio membership of the LCY leader was abolished by the constitutional changes in autumn 1988. 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 was president of the republic for life. After his death in May 1980, his office stayed vacant 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 took part following officials: 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 of Yugoslavia and chairmen of the Presidencies of the Yugoslav republics and autonomous provinces. The extended Presidency wasn't grounded in the Constitution and couldn't itself adopt any decisions.

Post-Tito period

Tito, as a president of the republic, was ex officio chairman of the Presidency. After his death a new chairman 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 Stipe may refer to: Biological terminology * Stipe (botany) * Stipe (mycology) In mycology, a stipe () is the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is ...

, representative of

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

's new Croatian government in the Presidency, was about to become the chairman but wasn't elected due to opposition of a half of the Presidency controlled by Serbian leader

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

. The top state office of the disintegrating federation remained vacant until 1 July when Mesić was finally elected. Interview with Vasil Tupurkovski, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian)
Only one year after Tito's death, Yugoslav leaders had to face violent riots in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. On 2 April 1981 the Presidency under chairmanship of

Cvijetin Mijatović Cvijetin "Majo" Mijatović ( sr-cyr, Цвијетин Мајо Мијатовић; 8 January 1913 – 15 November 1993) was a Yugoslav communist politician who served as President of the Collective Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1980 until 1 ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

Priština Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians a ...

and

Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica ( sq-definite, Mitrovicë; sr-cyrl, Митровица) or Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-cyrl, Косовска Митровица) is a city and municipality located in Kosovo. Settled on the banks of Ibar and Sitnica rivers, the city is ...

, which lasted one week., Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian) The Presidency declared the state of emergency again, that time on the whole territory of Kosovo, on 27 February 1989 under chairmanship of

Raif Dizdarević Raif Dizdarević (born 9 December 1926) is a Bosnian politician who served as Yugoslavia's first Bosniak president of the Presidency from 1988 until 1989. He participated in the armed resistance as a Yugoslav Partisan during World War II. Didza ...

, when even more serious disorders in Kosovo broke out. For the third time in post-Tito Yugoslavia, the state of emergency in Kosovo was imposed by the Presidency in February 1990. 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 Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (200 ...

from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

and

Bogić Bogićević Bogić Bogićević ( sr-cyr, Богић Богићевић; born 15 May 1953) is a Bosnian politician. He served as the 5th Bosnian member of the Yugoslav Presidency from 1989 until its abolishment in 1992. Bogićević was also a member of the ...

from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

were elected in direct elections held in their republics * representatives of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, Kosovo and

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

, i.e. half of the Presidency, were acting under ''de facto'' control of Slobodan Milošević * Stipe Šuvar, Croat representative of strongly pro-Yugoslav opinions, was in October 1990 replaced by Stipe Mesić nominated by Croatian government.Interview with Stipe Šuvar, Radio Free Europe (in Serbo-Croatian)
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, her provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina) and Montenegro continued to hold sessions until 1992.

Composition (1971–1992)

Notes

# Died while holding the office # Resigned when he became

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Federal Executive Council # Resigned due to accusation of participation in the Agrokomerc scandal # Recalled by the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sa ...

# Recalled by the Serbian Parliament # Recalled by the Serbian Parliament # Recalled by the Montenegrin Parliament

Members

* List of members of the Presidency of Yugoslavia

References

{{Yugoslavia topics Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...