Let's meet at Sretenje

The meeting is celebrated on the 40th day after Christmas, because 40 days after the birth, Mary took Jesus to the temple, where many recognized the Messiah in the newborn. "Look, this one is lying down to knock down and raise up many in Israel, and to be a sign against whom they will speak", are the words of the elder Simeon in the Gospel according to Luke. The symbolic importance of the arrival of baby Jesus among the people who see him as a savior and the young people who these days walk from town to town, while people bow and kneel to them along the roads, is more than clear.

The meeting is, from the worldly side, even more significant. On that day, February 15, 1804, the First Serbian Uprising began, and in 1835, the Sretenjski Constitution was adopted in Kragujevac. That is why this day is also the Statehood Day of Serbia. Whose heart does not tremble at the images that we know we will see right there, in Kragujevac, on that day, let him check if he has a heart. Because students come on foot, on bicycles, people come by car, bus, whatever happens. And we know that there will be flags, and there will be "God's Justice" because it is the national anthem, and there will also be "Vostani Serbie" because it is ours and Dosite's anthem, as well as the anthem of the uprising. The main meeting place is only separated from the Old Assembly, where the Constitution was adopted, by a 32-meter long bridge. Along that entire boulevard, Lepenica boulevard, there will be people, citizens, there will be a celebration of the Statehood Day of the country that these days we are taking back from the kidnappers.

HOW WE GOT UP THERE

illustration: vladimir borovikovski, 1816 / wikipedia.org

And it will not be the first uprising of the people against kidnappers and occupiers, with the difference that now we have "internal occupations", and not an external enemy. In 1804, not even 40 kilometers from Kragujevac, insurgents gathered at Sretenje and managed to escape the "cut of princes". About three hundred insurgents decided to fight against the dahi, so they proceeded to elect a leader. Since the harpist Stanoje Glavaš and Prince Teodosije Marićević refused to lead the insurgents, Karađorđe Petrović was chosen as the leader.

Following the example of the "Princely Assemblies" that were regularly held in Belgrade Pashaluk before the uprising, the insurgents led by Karađorđe decided to hold a "People's Assembly" in Orašac.

The Orašac assembly, at which the people's champions from the Belgrade and Kragujevac nahijas decided to start an uprising and chose Karađorđ as the leader of the uprising, is not an ordinary principality assembly, firstly because it was secret and only the narrowest circle of selected people knew about it, and secondly because it was insurgent, conspiratorial and that it aimed to carry out two important conclusions of an earlier, even narrower gathering of people's champions, held in Orašac on November 8 1803: to conclude the rising of the popular uprising in Belgrade Pashaluk and elect the leader of the uprising. It is, in fact, a gathering of revolutionary people's princes and other champions and elders, mixed with persons of the priestly rank on one side and hajduk elders on the other, held in a difficult to access and hidden place, in the early dawn. The immediate reason for its maintenance, as well as for the uprising itself, was the killing of princes and people's champions by dahias, as well as the difficult situation that prevailed in the country under the dahiy administration system.

On Sretenje, at dawn, strong guards were placed around the place where the assembly will be held. The participants, who arrived in Orašac from various directions the day before or during the night, gathered above the Marićević Jaruga, near two large elms, on a plain surrounded on all sides by thick lichen.

Karađorđe, who was the main organizer of this insurgent assembly, presented the position in which the Belgrade Pashaluk has been since it was under the Dahi administration and stated the purpose of this meeting. Of all the princes, champions and hajduk elders who were present at this assembly, there was not a single one who was against the uprising. Historian Milenko Vukićević maintains that around 300 people were present at the Oraš uprising assembly. Today, on the basis of historical and memoir literature, only the presence of the following can be established: proto Atanasije Antonijević, Stanoje Glavaš, Hajduk Veljko Petrović, Vule Ilić Kolarac, Milosav Lapovac, Đorđić from Viševac, Jovan Krstović from Bukovik, Aleksa Dukić, Arsenije Lomo, Tanasko Rajić, Janićije Đurić, prince of Orašac Marko Savić, merchant Teodosije Marićević, Aleksa Jakovljević, prince Vicentije Petrović from Koraćica, Prince Matija Jovicic from Topola, Mihailo Badžak from Jagnjil, Matija Karatošić from Kopljar, Milutin Savić from Garaš, Marko Katić, Petar Dugonjić from Masloševo, Blagoja and Gliš, both from Masloševo, Ćira Prokić and Miloje Čekerević from Masloševo, Stevan Rajaković, Mata Milivojević, Mandić and Milovan Đurić from Stragar (who in the last decade were briefly a municipality in the city Kragujevac), Andreja Jokić, Rista Đurđezić, Mihailo Manojlović, Paun Čolkić, Matija Milošević, Lazar Milosavljević, Dimitrije Perić, Dimitrije Manojlović, Gavrilo Đurić, Grigorije Marković - all from Topola, Đorđe Dukić, Tanasije Dukić, Jovan Riznić, Sreten, Teofan and Jakov Tomković from Baša, Gaja Ostojić from Orašac, Petar Kara from Trešnjevica, Hajduk Mileta from Glibovca, Hajduk Kara Steva from Provo, Hajduk Milovan from Plana, Dimitrije Radović from Vrbica, Milovan Đurković from Jagnjil, Miloš Arsenijević from Dragolje, Janko Račanin from Rača, Nikodije Dobrić from Ovšišt, Marko Milosavljević from Kopljar, Nikola Leka from Lipovac, Milovan Garašanin from Lipovac, Radovan Garašanin from Lipovac, Sima Serdar from Darosava, Toma Starčević from Orašac, Jovan Bulatović from Orašac and Vasa Saramanda from Bukovik.

Let's not delay too much: they gathered that day, agreed and started an uprising that lasted for nine years. During those nine years, they did not want to negotiate either, they wanted to return the state to the people. In this state-building sense, the most significant legacy of the First Serbian Uprising is that Ivan Jugović opened the Great School in 1808, which was also attended by Vuk Karadžić, and among the lecturers was Dositej Obradović. He also opened the Theological School in 1810. All of these were signs of the opening of the Great School, which happened only in 1863 in the Captain-Misha building, that is, the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade.

photo: Zoran Mrđa / Fonet

AND THEN - COUNTRY

The meeting is also important because in 1835 the Constitution of the Principality of Serbia (Constitution of the Principality of Serbia), also known as the Meeting Constitution, was adopted. It is the first constitution of the Principality of Serbia. It was compiled by the politician and diplomat Dimitrije Davidović, who was born in Zemun and spent a good part of his life in Smederevo, where he was buried.

The constitution divides power into legislative, executive and judicial, which is still considered the standard of democracy and constitutionality today. The government consists of the Prince, the State Council and the National Assembly. Nowadays, this division would correspond to the president, the government and the national assembly. The Constitution stipulates that the Prince and the State Council share executive power. The rights and freedoms of citizens were proclaimed, such as: inviolability of the person, independence of the judiciary and the right to a legal trial, freedom of movement and residence, inviolability of the dwelling, the right to choose an occupation, equality of citizens regardless of religion and nationality. Slavery and feudal relations were abolished by the Constitution.

Davidović drew up the constitution based on the French constitution from 1791, the constitutional charters from 1814 and 1830, and the Belgian constitution from 1831. In "Novina srbski" number 15, dated April 25, 1835, he gave a brief overview of the US Constitution. He coined the new term "constitution", which replaced the previously alien term "constitution". He connected this term with the verb "to establish", that is established by a special law, i.e. reins in the supreme power. In a semi-independent principality, Davidović drafted the highest legal act in a liberal system in a very free-spirited way. The constitution was divided into 14 chapters and 142 articles. In the second chapter, the 3rd and 4th articles, the coat of arms and the flag of Serbia were specified, which a vassal country should not have. The flag was "light-red, white and steely-extinguished".

AND WITH THE STATE AND - ARRANGEMENT

Legislative and executive power belonged to the prince and the State Council, and judicial power to independent courts. The executive power consisted of six ministers, and the president of the Council presided over the ministerial sessions. The prince had the right to according to Art. 14. rejected the proposal of a law twice, but if it was passed the third time, he had to accept it under the condition "that it does not lead to the death of the people, or against the state constitution". Article 14 is a modification of a similar article from the French revolutionary constitution of 1791. In Chapter VII, the Constitution provided for the judiciary to be divided into three institutions: district courts, the Grand Court (of appeals) and one department of the Council of State, as the third and highest court. In principle, the Constitution proclaims the division of power into executive, legislative and judicial, but this has not been consistently implemented. In art. 79. it is foreseen that the whole country will be judged according to a single code (at the assembly, Prince Miloš announced to the people that a civil code would be adopted). In art. 80, the rights and duties of judges were described, and it provided for the complete independence of judges from any authority.

In Chapter VIII, the National Assembly is given the right to determine the annual tribute, to elect a new prince with the Council, and that the prince's annual salary cannot be increased without its approval, while it cannot be reduced without the prince's consent. The Assembly had the right to budget, which stipulated that no taxes, levies and debts of the state could be implemented without its approval. In the later period, the representative system and parliamentary rule in Europe will develop from this. Namely, the tax right of the representative body, regulated in the Magna Carta Libertatum from 1215, which was in force for only two and a half months, became a generally accepted constitutional principle only at the end of the 19th century, and was accepted in this constitution.

Like the principle in Anglo-Saxon law "no taxation without representation" from 1768, the budget right of the National Assembly is regulated in the Constitution of Sretenje. Article 85 provided for a regular session of the Assembly at the beginning of May (on St. George's Day), at the Duke's invitation, and depending on the need, it could be convened several times a year. This constitution stipulates that the Assembly has 100 members, and a member of parliament must not be younger than 30 years old.

photo: miki jevtović / fonet

SIGNED HAPPINESS OF SERBIA

Such a liberal constitution soon caused protests in Russia and the Turkish Empire, which did not have their own constitutions. After all, neither the Habsburg Monarchy, nor Prussia, nor many smaller countries had constitutions at that time. One of the main problems was the flag, which had the same colors as the French flag. The Russian deputy in Constantinople, Butenjev, said that "Serbia fell into the abyss because of the Franco-Swiss constitution", and that the Constitution is "a French seedling in the Turkish forest". A member of the Porte for Foreign Affairs called it an "infectious constitution".

And there we have a parallel with the present time. No government and no authority of the great powers supports the protests in Serbia. Why? Well, because they are "contagious constitution". These protests started like both uprisings: authentically local, from the depths of society, popular. This is something that can happen to any government, so none of them are crazy enough to support us now. People, on the other hand, look at us on Instagram and Tiktok and admire us. "I also want to cook sarma for the students", is the banner that the citizens of Sarajevo carried at one of their protest gatherings on Tuesday, February 11.

Nevertheless, criticism and pressure on Serbia began immediately after the adoption of the constitution. Prince Miloš did not oppose foreign pressures, which worked in his favor, because the Constitution served above all to limit his omnipotence. With the excuse that he had to please foreign powers, Miloš dismissed all the ministers in a short period of time.

And what happened afterwards? Well, the last two hundred years have been nasty and bloody and unpleasant for us, but until those who are in power now, there were no occupiers like them. Not even in Milošević's time did we have a state stolen from citizens to this extent, so controlled down to the last local community, with the government looking only at its own wallet, taking credit for everything and responsibility for nothing.

The Constitution of Sretenj was in force de facto for 14 days, and de jure for 55 days. This constitution was extremely well received by the people, and "Novine srbske" wrote that Prince Miloš Obrenović signed the "happiness of Serbia". So, let's all go to Kragujevac on Saturday, to sign Serbia's new happiness together. This time a better and longer lasting one. Never again and forever.