Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Overview | |
| Type | Highest forum[a] |
| Convenor | Central Committee |
| Presiding organ | Working Presidency |
| Electoral organ | Commission for the Verification of the Election |
| Delegate types | Voting delegate Non-voting delegate Guest delegate |
| Elected bodies | Central Committee Statutory Commission Supervisory Commission Others it deems necessary |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Sava Centar,Beograd SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia (1978–1990) | |
| Statute | |
| "Statute of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia" | |
Thecongress was the highest forum of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY), the ruling party of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It assessed the activities of the LCY organs elected at the last congress and adopted, amended and supplemented thestatute andprogramme. The party programme discussed important issues in Yugoslavia'ssocialist development and the country'sinternational affairs. The congress assessed, decided on the eligibility of and electedcandidates put forward by the LCY branches to theCentral Committee, theCommission on Statutory Questions, and theSupervisory Commission.[2]
The incumbentLCY president presided over the congress proceedings until the delegates elected theWorking Presidency of the Congress and theCommission for the Verification of the Election of the Organs of the LCY (CVEO).[3] Upon the election of said bodies, the CVEO would analyse the reports submitted by the nominated and elected commissions of the LCY branches. In the event of any grievances regarding specific elections, the CVEO would start an investigation to assess thelegitimacy of the election and report its findings to congress. Later, the CVEO would submit a proposal outlining the composition of the organs to be elected by the congress. Following the reports and suggestions made by the CVEO, the congress opened a hearing. Should any congress delegate have commented on the verification and election process, said delegate could submit a written comment to the CVEO. The LCY Central Committee, the Commission on Statutory Questions and the Supervisory Commission were elected bypublic voting, with delegates casting their votes on a proposed composition list for these organs rather than on individual candidates. Initially, there was a surplus ofnominees to the number of seats up for election. The CVEO was empowered to propose one unified list, which meant that nominees who did not make the list were excluded from public vote. Congress delegates had the right to challenge individuals on the CVEO's list, and if that occurred, the member in question had to be elected bysecret ballot.Ex officio members of the LCY Central Committee were not elected by congress and were verified by a session of the LCY Central Committee.[4]
In its last years, from 1974 until its dissolution (and from 1948 to 1952), the LCY convened the congress every fourth year. Earlier, from 1964 to 1974, the statute stipulated it was to be called every fifth year. From 1952 to 1964, it was convened every sixth year, and it was convened irregularly prior to the5th Congress in 1948.[5] Only the LCY Central Committee could adopt a decision to convene the congress and had to do it at least three months before its opening. The decision had to include the proposeddraft agenda and information on the preparatory work to convene it.[4][b] The LCY Central Committee could also convene anextraordinary congress on its initiative or at the request of the congress or conference of one of the LCY branches. If an extraordinary congress was to be convened, the LCY Central Committee had to make public the agenda and mode of preparation of relevant material as well as the justification for convening an extraordinary congress. The LCY Central Committee had to publicly decide on convening an extraordinary congress at least three months after the proposal had been made.[7] Part of congress preparatory work was electing congress delegates. A special decision of the LCY Central Committee determined the criteria for the election of congress delegates. They were to be elected inproportion to the number of members the LCY branch in question had. In addition to these delegates, a certain number of delegates from each LCY republican branch, the same number for each of them, were elected, as well as the “appropriate” number of delegates from the autonomous provinces and theparty organisation in theYugoslav People’s Army. Members of the LCY Central Committee, the Commission on Statutory Questions and the Supervisory Commissions had the same rights as congress delegates except the right to vote on the report and on the dissolution of the organ to which they belonged.[4]
| Convocation | Type | Duration | Length | Delegates | Location | Presiding officer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Congress | Ordinary | 20–23 April 1919 | 4 days | 432 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | [8] | |
| 2nd Congress | Ordinary | 20–25 June 1920 | 5 days | 374 | Vukovar, Yugoslavia | [9] | |
| 3rd Congress | Ordinary | 14–22 May 1926 | 6 days | 48[c] | Vienna, Austria | [10] | |
| 4th Congress | Ordinary | 5–16 November 1928 | 11 days | 25 | Dresden, Germany | [11] | |
| 5th Congress | Ordinary | 21–28 July 1948 | 8 days | 2,344 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [12] |
| 6th Congress | Ordinary | 2–7 November 1952 | 6 days | 2,022 | Zagreb, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [13] |
| 7th Congress | Ordinary | 22–26 April 1958 | 5 days | 1,791 | Ljubljana, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [14] |
| 8th Congress | Ordinary | 7–13 December 1964 | 7 days | 1,442 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [15] |
| 9th Congress | Ordinary | 11–15 March 1969 | 5 days | 1,287 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [16] |
| 10th Congress | Ordinary | 27–30 May 1974 | 4 days | 1,666 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [17] |
| 11th Congress | Ordinary | 20–23 June 1978 | 4 days | 2,283 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Josip Broz Tito | [18] |
| 12th Congress | Ordinary | 26–29 June 1982 | 4 days | 1,721 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Dušan Dragosavac | [19] |
| 13th Congress | Ordinary | 25–28 June 1986 | 4 days | 1,742 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Vidoje Žarković | [20] |
| 14th Congress | Extraordinary | 20–23 January 1990[d] | 4 days | 1,654 | Beograd, Yugoslavia | Milan Pančevski | [22] |