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The National Assembly exercises legislative, voting and monitoring functions. As a legislative authority, it enacts constitutional amendments, laws, national programmes, resolutions, etc. It also creates its own internal rules, ratifies the state budget and treaties, and calls referendums. As a voting body, it elects the Prime Minister and other ministers, the President of the National Assembly and up to three Vice-Presidents. On the proposal of the President of the Republic, it also elects judges to the Constitutional Court, the Governor of the Bank of Slovenia, the Ombudsman, etc. Compared to other bicameral systems, the voting power of the Slovenian lower house is exercised over a wider range of issues. The monitoring function of the National Assembly includes the setting up of parliamentary enquiries, votes of no confidence in the government or ministers, and constitutional proceedings against the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister or ministers in the Constitutional Court. In order to maintain the stable functioning of the executive branch, a so-called ‘constructive vote of no confidence’ has been introduced, which means that a government can only be ejected when a new one has been elected.
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