President of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
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Serbo-Croatian: Predsjednik Saveza komunista Bosne i Hercegovine | |
Type | Party leader |
Member of | LCY Presidency and SRBM Presidency |
Appointer | Central Committee |
Term length | Two years, non-renewable (1982–1991) |
Constituting instrument | LCY Charter & LCBM Charter |
Formation | 5 November 1948 |
First holder | Đuro Pucar |
Final holder | Nijaz Duraković |
Abolished | 24 February 1991 |
The president was the leader of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina (LCBM), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SRBM) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the LCBM Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRBM Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the LCBM Central Committee. The 8th LCBM Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.
The office traces its lineage back to the office of "Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Bosnia and Herzegovina," established after the founding of the LCY in 1919. This body had no distinct rights and was under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Central Committee. On 1 November 1948, the LCY convened the founding congress of the Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 5 November, the Central Committee of the 1st Congress elected Đuro Pucar as "Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina". The LCY 6th Congress on 2–7 November 1952, renamed the party League of Communists, and the Bosnian republican branch followed suit and changed its name to League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 4 October 1966, the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the LCY 8th Congress abolished the office of General Secretary at the national level and replaced with the office of President. The LCBM Central Committee convened a meeting later on 14 November 1966 that abolished the office of secretary and established the "President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina". The reforms passed by the LCY Central Committee plenum strengthened the powers of the republican branches and gave more powers to the Bosnian party leader. The 8th LCBM Congress introduced another set of reforms on 20 May 1982, which abolished the existing office and replaced it with the "President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina". This office was retained until 24 February 1991, when the party changed its name to the Social Democratic Party.