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Politics of Serbia

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Politics of Serbia
Greater coat of arms of Serbia
Polity typeUnitary parliamentary constitutional republic
ConstitutionConstitution of Serbia
Formation5 June 2006
Legislative branch
NameNational Assembly
TypeUnicameral
Presiding officerAna Brnabić, President of the National Assembly
Executive branch
Head of state
TitlePresident of the Republic
CurrentlyAleksandar Vučić
AppointerDirect popular vote
Head of government
TitlePrime Minister
CurrentlyMiloš Vučević
AppointerPresident of the Republic (nominator)
National Assembly
(appointer)
Cabinet
Current cabinetCabinet of Miloš Vučević
LeaderPrime Minister
AppointerNational Assembly
Ministries21
Judicial branch
NameJudiciary
Supreme Court
Chief judgeJasmina Vasović

The Politics of Serbia are defined by a unitary parliamentary framework that is defined by the Constitution of Serbia in which the President of the Republic is the head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Government (consisted of the cabinet that includes Prime Minister and ministers) and the President of the Republic. Legislative power is vested in the unicameral National Assembly which is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies. The judiciary is independent from the executive and the legislature and is headed by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Serbia as a "flawed democracy" in 2023 and ranked country 64th in the world on its Democracy Index.[1]

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Main article: Constitution of Serbia

Following Montenegro's secession and the subsequent dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, Serbia restored its independence and adopted a new constitution – which replaced the constitution adopted in 1990. The proposed text of the constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 30 September 2006 and put on constitutional referendum which was held on 28–29 October 2006. After 53% of the electorate voted in favor of the proposed constitution, it was officially adopted on 8 November 2006. A constitutional referendum was held again on 16 January 2022, in which voters decided on amending the constitution in the provisions related to the expanding independence of the judiciary.[2] The "yes" option prevailed over the "no" option in the referendum, although turnout was reported to be the lowest since 1990, at only 30% of voters in total. Constitutional changes were adopted by the National Assembly on 9 February.

The legal system of Serbia is a civil law system, historically influenced by Germanic and, to a lesser degree, French law, as well as Yugoslav law, but in the process of the accession of Serbia to the European Union, the legal system is being completely harmonised with European Union law.

Executive

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Main articles: President of Serbia and Government of Serbia

The President of the Republic (Serbian: Председник Републике, romanized: Predsednik Republike) is the head of state. The president is directly elected and serves a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, has the procedural duty of appointing the Prime Minister with the consent of the National Assembly (Parliament) through a majority vote of all MPs, and has certain influence on defense and foreign policy. The most recent presidential election was held on 3 April 2022 and was won by Aleksandar Vučić. Although constitutionally the president has little governing power and is primarily a ceremonial position, the current president Aleksandar Vučić de facto serves under a semi-presidential system.

Executive power is mainly exercised by the Prime Minister (Serbian: Председник Владе, romanized: Predsednik Vlade), who heads a cabinet (Serbian: Владa, romanized: Vlada). The prime minister is chosen by the National Assembly on the proposal of the President of the Republic, who names the designate after consultations with leaders of all parliamentary parties. The prime minister is responsible for presenting his/her agenda to the National Assembly as well as proposing the ministers to fill the cabinet posts in his/her government. The government is considered elected if it has been elected by a majority vote of all deputies in the National Assembly.[3]


Novi Dvor,
seat of the President
Government Building,
seat of Prime Minister
Main office-holders
Office Name Party Since
President Aleksandar Vučić Serbian Progressive Party 31 May 2017
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević Serbian Progressive Party 2 May 2024

Legislature

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Main article: National Assembly of Serbia
House of the National Assembly

Legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly (Serbian: Народна скупштина, romanized: Narodna skupština), which is composed of 250 proportionally elected deputies by secret ballot. The powers of the legislature include enactment and amendment of the constitution, enactment of laws, adoption of the state budget, declarations of war and peace, calling and conducting referendums and elections, appointments and relief of office of independent public authorities, supervising the work of the Government and holders of independent public authorities. Decisions are made based on a majority vote if more than half of the deputies are present, except in cases of constitutional issues.[4]

Judiciary

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Building of the Supreme Court
Main article: Judiciary of Serbia

The judiciary of Serbia is a three-tiered system of courts with the Supreme Court (Serbian: Врховни суд, romanized: Vrhovni sud) standing at the highest tier. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal and court of cassation for both types of jurisdiction that exist (courts of general jurisdiction and courts of special jurisdiction).[5]

The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of judiciary, including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses, as well as administering the prison system.

Parties and elections

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Politics of Serbia
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations
flag Serbia portal
Main articles: List of political parties in Serbia and Elections in Serbia

Serbia uses the multi-party system, with numerous political parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, this results in the formation of coalition governments. Elections are held on the parliamentary, provincial and local level, and are scheduled every four years, while presidential elections are scheduled every five years.

The first political parties and organizations were established in the first half of the 19th century but they were officially registered as political parties in 1881. The People's Radical Party (NRS) dominated Serbian and Yugoslav politics from the late 1880s until 1928. Serbia was a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) from 1918 until 1941. During the period of German occupation the government was independent and was mostly run by military personnel, right-wing politicians and former members of the fascist Yugoslav National Movement (ZBOR). After World War II, Serbia was re-established as a one-party state and as one of the constituent republics of the communist Yugoslavia, which was headed by the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS).[a] After the dissolution of communist Yugoslavia in 1992, Serbia became a constituent part of Serbia and Montenegro and until 2000, it was under the dominant rule of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). In the first decade of the 21st century, political landscape was dominated by the coalitions of centre-left and centre-right parties, the largest among them being Democratic Party (DS) and Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Since 2012, the populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has been the ruling party establishing dominant power in Serbian politics including shifting to authoritarianism.

2023 Parliamentary Elections

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Party, alliance, or citizens' groupVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Serbia Must Not Stop1,783,70148.07+3.8129+9
Serbia Against Violence902,45024.32+5.3965+25
SPS–JS–ZS249,9166.73–5.0618–13
National Democratic Alternative191,4315.16–0.3813–1
We – Voice from the People178,8304.82New131
National Gathering105,1652.83–4.910–16
Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians64,7471.74+0.116+1
Serbian Radical Party55,7821.50–0.7200
Good Morning Serbia45,0791.21–3.6900
People's Party33,3880.90New0–12
SPP–DSHV29,0660.78–0.842–3
Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak21,8270.59+0.0320
Political Battle of the Albanians Continues13,5010.36+0.0810
RS–NKPJ11,3690.31New1New
It Must Be Different9,2430.25New0New
Coalition for Peace and Tolerance6,7860.18New0–1
Nova–D2SP–GDF–Libdem–Glas5,4620.15New00
Albanian Democratic Alternative3,2350.09000
Total3,710,978100.00–2500
Valid votes3,710,97897.13
Invalid/blank votes109,7682.87
Total votes3,820,746100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,500,66658.77
Source: Republic Electoral Commission[6][7]

International Organizations

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Main article: Serbia in intergovernmental organizations

Serbia is a member state of numerous international organizations: UN, ICC, IMF, WB, OSCE, CoE, BSEC, PfP, CEFTA, SECI, CEI.

Serbia applied to join the European Union (EU) in 2009 and has been a candidate for membership since 2012, along with nine other states. Serbia is the largest country in Southeast Europe seeking entry into the EU.[8][9]

Status of Kosovo

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Main article: Political status of Kosovo

Kosovo unilaterally self proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, a move which Serbia strongly rejects. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state and continues to claim it as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. However, differences and disputes remain. Initially there were no relations between the two; but in the following years there has been increased dialogue and cooperation between the two sides.

Though Kosovo is not a member state of United Nations, it remains a partially recognized country, with 104 out of 193 UN member states recognizing its independence. According to the international law, and Resolution 1244, which ended the Kosovo War it is claimed by Serbia as the autonomous province.

Negotiations facilitated by the European Union resulted in the 2013 Brussels Agreement on the normalization of relations between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia. The agreement pledged both sides not to block the other in the EU accession process, defined the structure of the police and local elections in all parts of Kosovo, and also established the proposal of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

The United States-mediated diplomatic talks agreed on the interconnection of air, train and road traffic, while both parties signed the 2020 agreement on the normalisation of economic relations.

Both parties agreed to a proposed normalisation agreement in EU mediated dialogue in 2023 and through further negotiations accepted a roadmap and timescale for its implementation the following month.[10][11][12][better source needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
  1. ^ "Democracy Index 2023".
  2. ^ Nikolin, Gorica (12 January 2022). "Vodič za početnike: Šta se tačno menja referendumom, zašto se menja i šta misle istaknuti pojedinci?". 021.rs (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Serbia >> Overview >> Political structure .:: Italy-Serbia: Enhancing Entrepreneurial Development ::". Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  4. ^ "The political system « National Tourism Organisation of Serbia". Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  5. ^ "About us". 14 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Rezultati izbora" [Election results]. Republic Electoral Commission (in Serbian). 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Konačan izveštaj RIK-a: Broj glasova koje su osvojile liste i koliko će poslanika imati u Skupštini". N1. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  8. ^ Milovančević, Vojislav (19 September 2023). "EKSKLUZIVNO Francusko-nemački predlog za proširenje EU: Ako ispuni uslove, Srbija bi mogla da postane članica 2030. godine" (in Serbian). Nova.rs. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  9. ^ Barber, Tony (11 November 2023). "Serbia is a poor fit for EU enlargement plans". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Media advisory - Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue: Next High-level Meeting on Saturday 18 March in Ohrid". EEAS. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  11. ^ @JosepBorrellF (18 March 2023). "Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on the Implementation Annex of the Agreement on the path to normalisation of relations" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell after High Level Meeting in Ohrid | EEAS Website". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
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