Slovak National Council (1943-1992)

War period (1943-1945)

The Slovak National Council (SNA) was created at the end of 1943 as a joint body of the Slovak Communist and Non-Communist Resistance, which concluded a cooperation agreement Christmas Agreement ). ^[1] . Between 1943 and 1944, the Slovak National Council was only one of the Slovak resistance groups (albeit significant ones), without real influence on events. This situation changed with the beginning of the Slovak National Uprising , in the early days of which the SNS leaders Gustav Husak and Josef Lettrich forced Wavro Schrobar to dissolve the Revolutionary National Committee that he created in Banska Bystrica and to include it in the SNS, which he led.

On September 1, 1944 ( 1944-09-01 ) , the Slovak National Council became the legislative and executive body in the territory controlled by the rebels. His delegation was sent to London to negotiate with Edward Benes , the head of the Czechoslovak government in exile , about the powers of the SNA and Czech-Slovak relations ^[2] .

The period of the third Czechoslovak Republic (1945-1948)

After the liberation of Prague from German troops and the return of the Benes government there , on May 10, 1945 ( 1945-05-10 ) , the pre-war Czechoslovak state was restored and the constitution of 1920 was amended, with the amendments allowing the existence of Slovak national authorities with limited powers. To exercise authority in the management of Slovak lands, the Slovak National Council, which became the legislative body, began to form an executive Council of Commissioners ( Slovak. Zbor povereníkov ) led by the chairman ( Slovak. Predseda zboru povereníkov ).

Initially, the SNA was formed by the co-optation of members in its composition. In 1946, he was determined by the results of a nationwide election ^[3] .

The powers of the SNA were significantly changed from 1945 to 1948 by the Prague Agreements , three treaties concluded at that time between the Czechoslovak government and the SNA, which determined the interconnections and distribution of powers between the central Czechoslovak and national-territorial Slovak state bodies. According to the first of them, signed on June 2, 1945, it was confirmed that the SNA has all the executive and legislative powers in Slovakia in the part not directly transferred to the central authorities in Prague, and the executive body of the SNA is the Council of Commissioners, accountable to the central government and the SNA. The second agreement, signed on April 11, 1946, the powers of the President of Czechoslovakia and the central government were significantly expanded, especially regarding the replacement of the posts of the state apparatus. The third agreement, signed on June 28, 1946 after the failure of the Communist Party of Slovakia in the last election, was aimed at reducing the significance of the victory of the Democratic Party . As part of the agreement, a preliminary check was introduced by the central government of all decisions taken in Slovakia, and the subordination of Slovak ministries to the corresponding ministries in Prague was established ^[4] .

The period of the “Constitution of May 9” (1948-1960)

As a result, the so-called asymmetric national-state system developed: the Czech nation did not have its own national-state bodies, and the Slovak one had, which meant a certain degree of national-territorial autonomy for Slovakia. At the same time, the central government bodies in fact played the same role in Czech lands as the Slovak national authorities in Slovakia, while remaining powerful for the latter, which created preferences for the Czech lands. In the adopted on May 9, 1948 ( 1948-05-09 ) year after the events of Victory Day and the formation of the practically one-party communist government of the Czechoslovak Constitution, Slovak national authorities were characterized as carriers and executors of state power in Slovakia and as representatives of the identity of the Slovak nation.

The period of the unitary Constitution of Czechoslovakia (1960-1969)

After the proclamation of Czechoslovakia by the socialist republic as the new Constitution, the Slovak National Council was completely deprived of its executive functions (its Council of Commissioners was liquidated), remaining a representative body secondary to the Czechoslovak National Assembly , while retaining elements of an asymmetric national state structure.

Federation Period (1969-1992)

January 1, 1969 ( 1969-01-01 ) of the year (in accordance with the Constitutional Law of the Federation No. 143 of October 28, 1968), the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic became a federation of two equal states - the Czech Republic ( Czech Česká socialistická republika ) and the Slovak ( Slovak. Slovenská socialistická republika ) of the socialist republics.

The Slovak National Council received the right to form a republican government ( Slovak. Vláda Slovenskej socialistickej republiky ) with a significant amount of authority.

On October 1, 1992 ( 1992-10-01 ) , in the new Constitution of the Slovak Republic, its parliament was called the National Council of the Slovak Republic .

• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1946) - not direct
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1948)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1954)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1960)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1964)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1968) (planned, unrealized)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1971)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1976)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1981)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1986)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1990)
• Elections to the Slovak National Council (1992)