ABSTRACT
All East European constitutions explicitly provide that all legislative authority rests exclusively with elected parliaments or assemblies, that the parliaments have a crucial role in defining the basic rights and duties of the citizens and the state organs. Article 66 of the Albanian Constitution defines the 250-member unicameral People’s Assembly as the “highest and most important organ of the governmental structure.” The Romanian Constitution even goes so far as to list twenty-three specific prerogatives of the Grand National Assembly, ranging from adopting and amending, the Constitution to appointing and recalling the supreme commanders of the armed forces. The special state organ is called the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and consists of a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary, and ten members. In each East European parliament there are two standard annual sessions: one dealing with the annual report of the prime minister, and the other—the last annual session—dealing with the national plan and budget for the following year.
