Rules of Procedure on the Organisation and Activity of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia

I. General Provisions

1 In keeping with its role, which is defined under Point 81 of the Statute of the LCY, the Presidency works out the policy of the LCY as determined at the Congress and the Conference , carries out its implementation and directs the overall activity of the League; reviews regularly current social - political and ideological developments, develops and adopts attitudes about the essential questions of the policy and practice of the LCY, and takes necessary political decisions ; - coordinates, adjusts and directs along concerted lines the activity of all organisations and organs of the LCY, and considers their initiatives and proposals; - Initiates and directs the activity of the League in the international field and draws up programs of co-operation with foreign parties and movements. - The Presidency passes political decisions at its sessions, elects the Executive Bureau from among its members, sets up commissions and other working bodies, and appoints its members. The work of the Presidency is, as a

II. Sessions, Methods for Preparation and Adoption of Conclusions and Decisions of the Presidency

6 Sessions of the Presidency are held when necessary and, as a rule, once a month.

7. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency prepares sessions of the Presidency based on discussions of various specific questions at its sessions or the basis of materials and proposals prepared by commissions and the technical service of the Presidency, as well as by organisations and organs of the LCY in republics, provinces, opstina and the Yugoslav People's Army (YPA).

8. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency is responsible for holding regular sessions of the Presidency, and they are convened by the President of the LCY, who proposes the agenda. In conjunction with the President or if the President is prevented from convening a session and presiding over it, sessions of the Presidency are called by the Executive Bureau of the Presidency or by a member who, according to the agreement reached in the Bureau, is entrusted with the task of acting for the President during a specified period and discharging on his behalf the function of convening and presiding over sessions of the Presidency. Who may propose the convocation of sessions

9. The President of the LCY or the Executive Bureau of the Presidency convene sessions on their initiative and on the proposal of one of the Central Committees of the LC of the Republics, one of the Commissions of the Presidency of the LCY, the Commission for Statutory Questions of the LCY, or at least five members of the Presidency.

10. At its sessions, the Presidency also considers all those proposals and initiatives from basic, opsting and provincial organisations of the LC when it assesses that the questions concerned are of broader significance to the development of policy and the current practice of the League of Communists. If it deems it necessary, the Presidency will, before considering proposals from these organisations, ask to hear the opinion of the Central Committee of the LC of the Republic concerned or of the Commission of the Presidency concerned.

11. The leading organs of the SAWP, the Trade Union Federation, youth organisations and other socio-political and social organisations may also take the initiative to hold discussions of various questions at sessions of the Presidency. At its sessions, the Presidency of the LCY also considers questions proposed by the Federal Assembly and the Federal Executive Council if it assesses that those discussions are of broader social-political significance and contribute to the formulation of policy and principles of the LCY.

12. At the beginning of a session, the Presidency adopts its agenda. At sessions of the Presidency, questions not on the agenda adopted may not be considered unless the Presidency specifically approves them.

13. As a rule, necessary materials, which contain proposals of standpoints, conclusions or decisions, are prepared for sessions of the Presidency and are conveyed in due time to members. If the Presidency deems it necessary, a session may also consider questions about which no proposals of documents, conclusions, or decisions have been prepared beforehand.

14. If the Presidency assesses that the prepared proposals are not based on reliable analysis and necessary arguments, the prepared materials are to be returned to those who designed them to elaborate them, or a special working body is to be set up at the session with the task of preparing new materials and proposals to the Presidency about the questions concerned. The adoption of conclusions by the Presidency on various specific questions may also be postponed to submit the standpoints put forward in the materials to more detailed discussions and verification in organisations and organs of the League of Communists.

15. Conclusions on every item on the agenda are adopted after the discussions have been concluded and the degree of agreement achieved has been established.

16. The Presidency takes decisions when at least two-thirds of the members attend the session, and conclusions become valid if a majority of those present declare themselves in favour of them. Unless the session rules are taken by public ballot. Otherwise, decisions are taken by public ballot.

17. Sessions of the Presidency are also attended by presidents of commissions who are not members of the Presidency when questions that fall under their competence are discussed. The Presidency invites representatives of social-political organisations and representative organs to its sessions when questions of common interest are discussed. Sessions may be attended by political associates and experts or functionaries entrusted with specific tasks in the Technical Service of the Presidency, depending on the questions addressed in the sessions. Sessions of the Presidency are attended by the Editors in Chief of the paper Komunist and the magazine Socijalizam and by correspondents accredited by editorial boards of other newspapers and radio and TV broadcasts.

18. At their sessions, the President of the LCY, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency or the Presidency, decides who, besides members of the Presidency, is to attend its sessions. The Presidency decides when a session is to be of closed character.

19. At sessions of the Presidency, stenographic records are kept, and minutes are drawn up on their basis. Minutes are adopted at the first subsequent session of the Presidency.

III. Members of the Presidency

20. Members of the Presidency have equal rights and duties to raise those questions on which they consider the Presidency should state its views; to take an active and direct part in preparations for sessions and the adoption of conclusions at sessions of the Presidency; to state their views about all questions concerning the policy and practice of the LCY and the activity of organisations and organs of the League; to assess the activity of the Executive Bureau of the Presidency and commissions. A member of the Presidency is responsible for decisions and the activity of the Presidency as a whole.

21. Decisions and conclusions of the Presidency are equally binding on all its members. In their ideological-political activity, they must strive actively and consistently to implement LCY policy and the conclusions adopted by the Presidency.

22. For their work, members of the Presidency are directly responsible to the Presidency and, through the Conference and the Congress of the LCY, to the whole League of Communists of Yugoslavia

23. Members of the Presidency have at their disposal all available documents and reports that they need to carry out their functions and tasks. Methods and forms of conveying information to members of the Presidency are to be regulated under the provisions of special rules of procedure to be introduced by the Presidency

24. When a member of the Presidency, even after a decision has been adopted at a session of the Presidency, expresses reservations about his own opinion, this is entered in the minutes.

25. A member of the Presidency who is prevented from attending a session may convey his views and proposals about the questions on the agenda to the Presidency before the beginning of the session

IV. The President of the LCY

26. In compliance with the function determined under the LCY Statute, the President of the LCY is in charge of the Presidency and its Executive Bureau; convenes and presides over meetings of the Presidency and Executive Bureau of the Presidency; raises questions to be discussed in the Presidency, Executive Bureau of the Presidency, and Commissions of the Presidency; keeps constantly in touch with the activities of the LCs in Socialist Republics; acts as spokesman and representative of the LCY in relations with other communist, workers ', and progressive parties and liberation movements, gives and defends the appraisals and standpoints of the LCY on all essential matters from its policy and practice; and signs all more critical documents and decisions passed by the Presidency. Part of his functions concerned with preparations for, calling, and presiding over meetings of the Presidency and its Executive Bureau can be transferred to members of the Presidency and its Executive Bureau who perform their respective duties for a certain period in turn and based on an understanding reached in the Bureau.

V. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency

28. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency consists of 15 members.

- The Executive Bureau of the Presidency is composed of the LCY President, two members of each LC of socialist republics, one member of each presidency of the LC of republics, and one member of each presidency of the LC of individual socialist autonomous provinces.

29. The Presidency Bureau displays its functions within the framework determined under the LCY Statute and these Rules of Procedure, according to the programme of the activity and resolutions of the LCY Presidency and tasks assigned to it by the Presidency within the framework of the political guidelines fixed at the Congress and the Conference's solutions. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency is responsible for its work to the LCY Presidency.

30. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency – is responsible for the implementation of the Presidency resolutions , takes political decisions within the frame- work of its own political executive functions and performs other executive finctions ; regularly considers current social - political and ideological trends in the country and current international problems ; raises and considers issues on which the Presidency should take a standpoint and makes preparations for the Presidency sessions ; -ordinates work of the Presidency Commissions , agrees with them on preparing the Presidency sessions , examines their proposals , and gives them initiatives for work ; achieves ties and unity of action in day-to-day activity with Central Committees of the LCs in socialist republics ; carries out co - operation with leading organs of social - political organizations and FA organs ; pursues and carries out the policy and programme of co-operation of the LCY on the international plane and ap- points representatives and delegations of the LCY to get in touch with foreign parties and movements ; is responsible for informing the members of the League and the public at large about the activity of the Presidency.

31. If and when the Executive Bureau of the Presidency must adopt resolutions as a matter of emergency that fall under the jurisdiction of the Presidency, those resolutions must obligatorily be considered and approved at the next session of the Presidency, which the Executive Bureau of the Presidency convenes within the shortest possible time.

32. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency regularly informs the Presidency about its own activity.

33. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency adopts resolutions and decisions at its sessions. After the session discussing questions of current political significance, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency notifies members of the Presidency about the session held.

34. With a view to as successful fulfilment of its tasks as possible, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency carries out the distribution of work within the Executive Bureau of the Presidency based on the engagements and personal responsibility of every individual member of the Executive Bureau of the Presidency as to the preparations for the session and implementation of resolutions taken at the session.

35. As a rule, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency holds its sessions once a week.

36. The Executive Bureau of the Presidency sessions are convened and presided over by either the LCY President or by a member of the Executive Bureau of the Presidency who is in charge of a chairman of the session ( see articles 9 and 28 ). According to the previous paragraph, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency member responsible for convening the Executive Bureau of the Presidency sessions performs operative tasks and achieves the coordination needed for preparing the sessions of both the Presidency and its Executive Bureau.

VI. The Commissions of the LCY Presidency

37. The Presidency forms standing and temporary commissions and work groups, fixes their tasks, appoints their chairmen and composes their work bodies by choosing members from among members of the Presidency, the standing section of the LCY Conference, and other members of the LCY.

38. Standing commissions have 15 members at the most besides the Chairman; the Commissions can also have a Deputy Chairman. Every commission has its secretary who should organise professional and analytical work and supervise the securing of determined conditions needed for the regular activity of the commission. The secretaries are directly responsible for their work to the commissions concerned, that is to say, to the commission chairmen.

39. Temporary commissions and work groups are formed according to a programme on the work of the Presidency.

40. The Presidency Commissions - regularly follow and analyse the social practice and contradictions in social movements and consider ideological and political tasks of the LC in various walks of public, economic, and political life; draft proposals for standpoints and measures which the LCY Presidency should approve; organise studies of long - term problems of socialist development and stimulate the advance of theoretical thought in connection with the area of their activity.

41. The commissions are responsible for their work to the LCY Presidency. The Presidency approves commissions' work programmes and examines reports covering their activity. The commission informs the Presidency about contentious matters arising in its creation. The Presidency standpoints are binding on the commission and its members.

42. With a view to coordinating current activity, establishing a list of priority matters to be proposed to the Presidency for its consideration, and drafting the agenda for the Presidency sessions, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency examines materials and proposals of the commissions. Suppose the given commission insists on urgent consideration of its proposal. In that case, the Executive Bureau of the Presidency must include the matter concerned in the draft agenda of the Presidency session, which is responsible for deciding whether the issue would or would not be discussed at that or any other subsequent sessions.

43. At its sessions, The Executive Bureau of the Presidency must consider the commissions' proposals concerned with the implementation of Presidency resolutions and execution of the LCY policy. If differences arise over the estimates and standpoints between the Executive Bureau of the Presidency and the commissions when considering determined matters, the Presidency should decide the contentious issues.

44. The Presidency Commissions achieve constant cooperation in appropriate work with appropriate CC Commissions in the LCS of the republics, provinces, opstinas, and their respective organisations of the League of Communists.

45. The Commissions achieve cooperation and co-ordinate their activity with respective work bodies of the Socialist Alliance, Trade Union, Youth, and other social-political and social organisations