Advantages of Constitutional Monarchy in Serbia
We are convinced that the re-establishment of constitutional parliamentary monarchy would be the perfect way to connect traditional, centuries-old values of our people and its glorious past with the modern era. Constitutional Monarchy provides unity, stability and continuity. It is also the guarantor of democracy and human rights. The break-up with tradition of monarchy had never had good effects on a single nation, especially not ours. The states that have incorporated their own traditions in the modern era are the most developed countries in the world today, and 7 out of 10 are monarchies.
The state of Serbia, from its earliest historical traces, was monarchy in some form – counties, ruled by despots, principalities, kingdoms, empires … The only two periods when Serbia lost its monarchical system coincides with the period when Serbia went into captivity – the first time the Turkish, the second time a communist. Free Serbia has always been a Monarchy!
After the World War II, the winners abolished the Monarchy from the Serbian nation in a completely illegal manner, by force. Since that time, Republican experiment which brought Serbia into situation where it is nowadays still lasts. The republican system, which by itself of course is not bad, in Serbia was never conducted in the right way, because of a bad system of Government and resistance which appeared in the Serbian people.
After many years of post-war events, in the eyes of the world Serbia is still a country that hasn’t broken away from its communist heritage. It is also a country that represents an unsafe partner for further cooperation and investments, which is caused by leadership struggles and conflicts among political parties and the instability as a result of those struggles. The Restoration of monarchy in Serbia would make a great starting point for Serbia to finally move forward and be classified as a modern, advanced, democratic European country. The specific contribution of the monarchy would be reflected both in the external and the internal politics.
In а constitutional parliamentary monarchy, the relation between the King and the government authority is given in the sentence “The King is the head of the state, and the government rules”. In a constitutional monarchy the people also elect their representatives in free and fair parliamentary elections, who based on the parliamentary majority, propose the Prime minister, and the King approves his or her appointment. The main decisions about leading the country are done by the Government and Parliament. The King, who is not member of any political party and is above all parties, is a factor of stability, unity, continuity and reconciliation. The King is there to help the politicians overcome their political conflicts and to direct the government officials to work together for the good of the state and the people. This system has enabled the modern monarchies to be among the most successful countries in the world, such as: Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Japan…
In relation to the world, the restoration of monarchy would represent Serbia as a country that finally broke all ties with the communist legacy and as a country that is determined to make the final step towards the stabilization of political and economic relations. The adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia, would establish the precise relationships between all the layers of authority, guaranteeing the rights of each individual and show to the world that Serbia is no longer a state that with every change of party in power changes the Constitution, laws, contracts… which would undoubtedly attract investors to invest in Serbia.
Also, kinship of the Royal Family and HRH Crown Prince Alexander with all European Royal Palaces and his business connections and personal friendships in the developed world would be a priceless benefit to Serbia’s development.
The restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia would build a bridge that connects modern and historical Kingdom of Serbia, an ally and associate of many European nations.
We recall that there are numerous modern monarchies in Europe, which are the most developed countries and and European Union members. We believe that Serbia’s place is among them!
Internally, restoration of the monarchy would bring the suspension of constant conflicts between the leaders of political parties, which is something most needed in Serbia at the moment. Actually, the restoration of the Kingdom and the coming of the King to the position of head of state, so the leadership ambitions of heads of the political parties, who are mostly struggling to overtake a function of head of state, would evanish. That would give an opportunity for political parties to compete by quality of their programs by offering solutions to the problems in the country, instead of competing with the names of leaders.
Our country desperately need the King as the stabilising factor, because he is neutral, politically undecided, independent of any “centers of power”, ready to take on the heavy responsibility that comes from above, a guarantor of constitutionally guaranteed rights of every individual, and an institution who doesn’t “owe” anything to anyone for his position. It is something that the President as an institution doesn’t have, because for his position he “owes” to the political parties, coalition partners and financiers of the election campaign. This affects the efficiency of the institution of the President and the occurrence of frequent political instability in the country, which continues to result in economic instability – because of the political turbulence, serious investors with a healthy capital are bypassing our country, which has a direct impact on citizens’ standards of living.
The King was born and educated from childhood in order to be ready to take the role of head of the state. The King is prepared to take responsibility for each of his actions, without the possibility to withdraw and not to take responsibility for any errors, after his mandate is over. The King does not have “reserve position”! His personality and his work must constantly be in the service of his people!
The King would also be the guarantor that the rights and relations in Serbia guaranteed by the Constitution will never be violated without proper punishment. The existence of the King as head of the state will never cause that any individual assume more power than it is guaranteed by the Constitution. Unfortunately, we were witnesses that in a period from 1945 onwards, that multiple times all the layers of government authority were in the hands of one man or one political group, which cannot bring stability and healthy relations in the state.
With the King as head of the state, there would be no presidential elections (which in Serbia happen more frequently than the stipulated time) which would make significant savings in budget funds. Also, what few people know is that in addition to the current President of the republic, also all former presidents and their families are financed from the State’s budget. All this makes the institution of the King 3 times cheaper than the institution of the President for the citizens of Serbia! On the other hand, the existence of a King would not bring additional costs, as allocations for the President and his cabinet, if not more than certainly would be the same as for the King.
Therefore, it is clear why we firmly believe that the restoration of monarchy in Serbia is the only solution for our country to have a healthy starting point, a healthy foundation for constructing a modern, economically stable and prosperous state.