IZVRŠNA VLAST U VIDOVDANSKOM USTAVU

Abstract

The author analyzes the provisions of the Vidоvdan Constitution which regulate the position and competence of the executive branch. With the Vidovdan Constitution, the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed a constitutional parliamentary and hereditary monarchy in which the King has a central constitutional position and the position of an undisputed holder of executive power. The executive power is made available to the king, which is exercised by the ministers for him, with him and his subordinates. Ministers form the Council of Ministers (Government) and are at the head of certain administrative departments. Although the Constitution proclaimed parliamentarism, there was no classic parliamentary responsibility of ministers before the Assembly. The king was a political factor that enters the field of competence of other holders of power, and thus the division of power provided by the constitution "falls away". The king's power extends to the civil and military field of life of the state, to the external and internal spheres. Although the adoption of the Vidovdan Constitution aimed to create a unified system of organization and division of power, the internal state and political situation in the country, after the adoption of the Constitution, became more complicated and filled with frequent ministerial crises and conflicts of political parties. The King's domination and his frequent "going out" outside the constitutional framework resulted in increasing centralization and, in the end, a coup d'etat and the establishment of King Alexander Karadjordjevic's personal dictatorship.