The president was the leader of the League of Communists of Serbia (LCS), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (SRS) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the LCS Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRS Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the LCS Central Committee. The 8th LCS Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.

The League of Communists of Serbia, known as the Communist Party of Serbia until 1952, was the ruling political party of Serbia from 1945 to 1990. It was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.