Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Savezna Skupstina consists of the Chamber of Republics or Vece Republika (40 seats, 20 Serbian, 20 Montenegrin; members distributed on the basis of party representation in the republican assemblies to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Citizens or Vece Gradjana (138 seats, 108 Serbian with half elected by constituency majorities and half by proportional representation, 30 Montenegrin with six elected by constituency and 24 proportionally; members serve four-year terms) elections: Chamber of Republics - last held 24 December 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); Chamber of Citizens - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000) election results : Chamber of Republics - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; note - seats are filled on a proportional basis to reflect the composition of the legislatures of the republics of Montenegro and Serbia; Chamber of Citizens - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - SPS/JUL/ND 64, Zajedno 22, DPSCG 20, SRS 16, NS 8, SVM 3, other 5; note - Zajedno coalition includes SPO, DS, GSS
Judicial branch: Federal Court or Savezni Sud, judges are elected by the Federal Assembly; Constitutional Court, judges are elected by the Federal Assembly
Political parties and leaders: Serbian Socialist Party or SPS (former Communist Party) [Slobodan MILOSEVIC]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Vojislav SESELJ]; Serbian Renewal Movement or SPO [Vuk DRASKOVIC, president]; Democratic Party or DS [Zoran DJINDJIC]; Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro or DPSCG [Momir BULATOVIC, president]; People's Party of Montenegro or NS [Milan PAROSKI]; Liberal Alliance of Montenegro [Slavko PEROVIC]; Democratic Community of Vojvodina Hungarians or DZVM [Sandor PALL]; League of Communists-Movement for Yugoslavia or SK-PJ [Dragan ATANASOVSKI]; Democratic Alliance of Kosovo or LDK [Dr. Ibrahim RUGOVA, president]; Party of Democratic Action or SDA [Sulejman UGLJANIN]; Civic Alliance of Serbia or GSS [Vesna PESIC, chairman]; Socialist Party of Montenegro or SP [leader NA]; Yugoslav United Left or JUL [Mirjana MARKOVIC (MILOSEVIC's wife)]; New Democracy or ND [Dusan MIHAJLOVIC]; Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians or SVM
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
Diplomatic representation in the US: the US and Serbia and Montenegro do not maintain full diplomatic relations; the Embassy of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia continues to function in the US chief of mission : Ambassador (vacant); Counselor, Charge d'Affaires ad interim Nebojsa VUJOVIC chancery: 2410 California St. NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 462-6566
Diplomatic representation from the US: the US and Serbia and Montenegro do not maintain full diplomatic relations chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Chief of Mission Richard M. MILES embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade mailing address : American Embassy, Belgrade, United States Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5070 telephone: [381] (11) 645655 FAX: [381] (11) 645332
Economy
Economy - overview: The swift collapse of the Yugoslav federation in 1991 has been followed by highly destructive warfare, the destabilization of republic boundaries, and the breakup of important interrepublic trade flows. Output in Serbia and Montenegro dropped by half in 1992-93. Like the other former Yugoslav republics, it had depended on its sister republics for large amounts of energy and manufactures. Wide differences in climate, mineral resources, and levels of technology among the republics accentuated this interdependence, as did the communist practice of concentrating much industrial output in a small number of giant plants. The breakup of many of the trade links, the sharp drop in output as industrial plants lost suppliers and markets, and the destruction of physical assets in the fighting all have contributed to the economic difficulties of the republics. One singular factor in the economic situation of Serbia and Montenegro is the continuation in office of a communist government that is primarily interested in political and military mastery, not economic reform. Hyperinflation ended with the establishment of a new currency unit in June 1993; prices were relatively stable in 1995. Reliable statistics are hard to come by; the GDP estimate is extremely rough. The economic boom anticipated by the government after the suspension of UN sanctions in December 1995 failed to materialize in 1996 and early 1997, exacerbating the regime's financial problems.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $21 billion (1995 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6% (1995 est.)