KAKO JE UKINUT PARLAMENTARIZAM U SRBIJI 1945. GODINE?
HOW PARLIAMENTARISM IN SERBIA WAS ABOLISHED IN 1945?

The process of parliamentarism termination in Serbia before the elections on November 11, 1945

Summary/Abstract: The process of parliamentary democracy suspension and introducing one-party dictatorship in Socialist Yugoslavia went through three phases, but was never formally legitimized. In the first phase, before establishing power on the elections on 11 November 1945, Communist Party of Yugoslavia eliminated the opposition first, acting with monopoly on institutions, State Security, courts and all important social organizations, as a part of a broad coalition of People`s Front. The second phase of illusory political pluralism implied establishing one-party monopoly in the Front, in which recent satellites slowly ideologically merged. In the third phase all social forces found themselves in one monolithic organization, which became ideological transmission of Communist Party for influencing the masses, under the new name – SSRNJ (Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia). Elections on 11 November 1945 brought significant suffrage extension (women, soldiers, people over 18), but also a completely narrowed choice. The election climate was everything but democratic. Disagreeing with the election legislation, atmosphere, impossibility of free political engagement as well as the absence of freedom of the media, the opposition opted for election boycott on 22 September 1945. By means of splitting parties and fusing their pro-government wings, political processes against opposition leaders, suppression of independent media and similar techniques, Communist Party of Yugoslavia soon paved the way to one-party dictatorship. Suspension of even illusory form of party pluralism as well as the transition from hegemonic party system to one-party system happened more quickly and with less resistance than in other Eastern European countries. Strong anti-fascist resistance movement, that Communist Party of Yugoslavia misused for the brutal liquidation of political opponents at the end of the war, contributed to this process. In this kind of atmosphere, elections brought almost a 100% victory of People`s Front and marked the definitive death of the opposition as well as the establishment of one-party system, that would last for almost half of a century.

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