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Yugoslavia State Presidency
Also represented in the federal councils was the third major
organ of the Yugoslav national government, the collective State
Presidency. Formed by Tito in 1970 to provide all-Yugoslav
negotiation of interregional conflicts, the Presidency became the
symbolic replacement for Tito's position as head of state. By
1989 it had evolved from the original twenty-three-member group
to an eight-member group, one member of which was elected from
each republic and province. A ninth, ex-officio post was held by
the president of the LCY Central Committee until late 1988, when
the position was abolished to reduce party interference in state
institutions. Most republics and provinces elected their
representatives to the Presidency in their assemblies, but in
1989 Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia held direct
popular elections for this post. The position of president
rotated yearly, to provide even distribution among the republican
and provincial representatives. Beginning with the 1989
president, the Slovene Janez Drnovsek, the "presidency of the
Presidency" was to rotate among the republics and provinces in
the following order: Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Vojvodina,
Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Hercegovina, through 1997.
The 1974 Constitution named the State Presidency as "supreme
body in charge of administration and command of the armed
forces," as well as the main administrator of foreign policy and
adviser on domestic policy. The State Presidency controlled its
constitutionally prescribed domains through working bodies known
as Councils of the Presidency. Among these were councils for
foreign policy, defense, state security, and protection of the
constitutional order. In practice, the State Presidency
deliberated informally, consulting regularly with representatives
of other government bodies and developing positions by consensus
rather than by the majority vote prescribed in the Constitution.
It also met regularly with the LCY Presidium and regional
presidencies. Because its members had no bureaucratic
responsibility, and because of the prestige left to the
institution by Tito, the State Presidency was an important
bargaining center for purely political issues that could not be
resolved in the Federal Assembly or the FEC. It also initiated
all temporary measures passed by the FEC. But the Presidency had
no power to impose compromise; this was not an important weakness
when Tito filled the position, but his successors lacked his
personal influence.
Data as of December 1990
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