January 1933 Constitutional Amendment (Amendment Procedure Act)

The January 1933 Constitutional Amendment, officially the Amendment Procedure Act, was a controversial piece of legislation that fundamentally altered the legislative framework of the Divine Republic of Kresimiria.

Passed early in the tumultuous year of 1933, the Act lowered the parliamentary threshold required to amend the Constitution from a two-thirds majority (14 Senators) to a three-fifths majority (12 Senators). While technically a procedural change, it is historically viewed as a strategic power grab by the ruling Revolutionary People’s Party (RPP) and their allies in the Sons of Kresimir (SoK). It effectively removed the ability of the CRF-led liberal opposition of the 1932 Assembly to block constitutional changes, paving the way for the authoritarian National Security Act passed later that same year.

Background

Under the original 1921 Constitution, Article 25 stipulated that any amendment required a “two-thirds majority of Senators, that is fourteen Senators.” This high threshold was designed by the Revolutionary People’s Council to ensure consensus and stability.

However, following the 1932 election, the Assembly was fractured. The governing RPP held only 8 seats. Even with the support of the hardline Sons of Kresimir (4 seats), the “Nationalist Bloc” commanded only 12 votes—two short of the constitutional requirement. This allowed the liberal Civic Renewal Front (4 seats), the regionalist Bistrice People’s Party (1 seat), and independent senators to form a “blocking minority” against radical changes.

By 1933, with security deteriorating due to BRC-21 attacks, Assembly Chair Filip Novak and SoK leader Kresimir Basic sought to pass sweeping security laws that would restrict freedom of movement. Realizing these measures would likely be blocked by the CRF under the existing rules, they moved to change the rules themselves.

The Amendment

The Act proposed a simple alteration to the text of Article 25:

Original Text: “This constitutional proposal requires a two-thirds majority of Senators, that is fourteen Senators, to approve it…”

Amended Text: “This constitutional proposal requires a majority of twelve Senators, to approve it…”

This change meant that the RPP and SoK, with their combined 12 seats, could theoretically pass constitutional amendments without needing a single vote from the opposition or independents.

Parliamentary Debate and Voting

The proposal sparked a fierce debate in the Assembly.

• The Nationalist Argument: Filip Novak argued that the “rigidity” of the 1921 Constitution was preventing the state from reacting to modern threats. Kresimir Basic went further, accusing the CRF of “hiding behind mathematics to protect terrorists.”
• The Opposition: Eward Matek of the CRF condemned the bill as an “enabling act for tyranny,” arguing that lowering the threshold removed the last check on the majority’s power.

To pass this specific amendment, the government still needed to meet the original 14-vote threshold. The RPP and SoK whipped their 12 votes. To secure the final numbers, they successfully courted the two representatives from Severnivaraje, independent senator Sara Unalina and BPP leader Antonio Iric, by promising that the lower threshold would also make it easier to pass regional autonomy amendments in the future.

Voting Breakdown

The final vote was 14–6. The RPP, SoK, BPP, and independent senator Sara Unalina voted in favor. The CRF and the two Moravski independent senators voted against.

Impact

The passage of the Amendment Procedure Act had immediate and far-reaching consequences. It broke the legislative deadlock that had characterized the mid-1930s.

With the threshold lowered to 12, the opposition lost its ability to veto constitutional changes. Just ten months later, in November 1933, the government utilized this new power to pass the National Security Act, which drastically curtailed civil liberties and established the internal passport system.