Lazar Koliševski in the context of "Yugoslav Macedonia"

The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: Социјалистичка Република Македонија, romanized: Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and a nation state of the Macedonians. After the transition of the political system to parliamentary democracy in 1990, the Republic changed its official name to Republic of Macedonia in 1991, and with the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia, it declared itself an independent country and held a referendum on 8 September 1991 on which a sovereign and independent state of Macedonia, with a right to enter into any alliance with sovereign states of Yugoslavia was approved.

Geographically, SR Macedonia bordered Albania to the west, Greece to the south and Bulgaria to the east. Within Yugoslavia, it bordered SR Serbia (including SAP Kosovo) to the north. It was one of the two landlocked federal republics, along with SR Serbia.

The office of the president of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia existed from the death of the President of the Republic Josip Broz Tito on 4 May 1980 until the dissolution of the country by 1992.

A collective presidency existed in Yugoslavia since amendments to the 1963 Constitution in 1971. In 1974 a new Constitution was adopted which reaffirmed the collective federal presidency consisting of representatives of the six republics, the two autonomous provinces within Serbia and (until 1988) the President of the League of Communists. The 1974 Constitution defined the office of President of the Presidency, but only coming into effect with the disestablishment of the office of President of the Republic. A separate article affirmed Josip Broz Tito with an unlimited mandate which ensured the new President of the Presidency would not come into effect until after his death. Simultaneously an office of Vice President of the Presidency had been in place since 1971 on a rotating annual basis between republican and provincial representatives. When Tito died on 4 May 1980, the then Vice President of the Presidency Lazar Koliševski acceded to the role of President of the Presidency. Subsequent to this the role of President of the Presidency would rotate on an annual basis with each President serving as Vice President the year prior.