ALBANIANS REPRESENTATIVES LEFT THE

MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT

AIM, Skopje, July 2, 1994

SUMMARY

After the 10 Albanians accused of participating in the so called "arms scandal" have been sentenced to a total of 65 years of imprisonment ( an eight year sentence for Mithat Emeni, the former secretary of the largest party of Albanians, the PDP, and a five years of prison for the most leniently sentenced Burim Murtezanija) the Central Presidency of the PDP brought a decision to withdraw its deputies from the Republican Parliament for an indefinite period of time. The departure of the Albanian deputies from the Republican Parliament does not have to, but can be, the beginning of the end of young Crvenkoski's rule and in whose coalition government there is a number of Albanian ministers who have not up to date been instructed by the Presidency of the PDP to withdraw from their ministerial positions. Are the Draconian sentences the only cause of disconent of the leaders of the PDP or is their disappointment more deeply rooted ? Judging by the recent reactions of the leaders of this Party, it can be concluded that the pronounced sentences to the 10 Albanians only filled the glass to the rim. In addition, according to the President of the Party, Dzeladin Murati, the membership is also dissatisfied with the mediation of the European institutions which are, in his opinion, maintainly only ficticious peace in Macedonia. Those well acquainted with the situation here believe this to be the beggining of the "Kosovization" of Western Macedonia and that it will be very difficult to put everything in place after the departure of the Albanian parliamentarians from the building of the Macedonian Parliament.

The Central Presidency of the Party of Democratic Prosperity (the largest party of Albanians from Macedonia which has 23 representatives in the republican Parliament, a vice-president of the Parliament, a vice-president in the Government of the young Prime minister, Branko Crvenkoski, as many as five minister and a number of deputy and asistance ministers in the various government agencies) at a joint meeting with the chairmen of the branch organizations of the Party, considered yesterday the political situation in the republic. Special attention was given to the sentences in the court proceedings against the ten Albanians accused in the so called "arms affair". Following the meeting, the Presidency of the Party announced to the public that it was withdrawing its representatives from the republican Parliament. How long this standstill in the activities of the Albanian representatives in the republican Parliament will last no one knows for sure, not even the Party leadership.

In its press release, the Presidency of the PDP pointed out that the " finalization of the first stage of the court proceedings and the pronouncing of Draconian sentences to the ten Albanians, among which the former secretary general of the Party of Democratic Prosperity, provoked the revolt of the membership and the democratic public in Macedonia." It is also emphasized in the press release that after holding consultations with the chairmen of the branch organizations of this Party " it was concluded that the political situation in Macedonia was very tense, and that the time and pronouncd sentences were well planned by the directors of this drama, in order to win, at a time when the census is underway and elections are to be held soon, political points for themselves and to destablize the PDP and the entire Albanian political factor."

In addition the press release contains the decisions brought at this meeting, among which the one that requests " parliamentary group of this Party to temporarily cease its activities, including its participation in the proceedings of the Republican Parliament until specific results are achieved in the resolution of the problem." In its decision the Presidency of the Party indicated that it will establish a " five-member commission which is to establish contact with domestic and foreign factors and inform them of the actual situation regarding this affair."

Therefore, the decision has been brought. All that has for quite some time now been the main topic of corridor rumours has come true: the Albanians parliamentarians shall transfer their activities outside the Parliament building. As opposed to them the ministers and other governmental officials, members of this Party since they have not been instructed to abstain from their acativities shall remain in their positions. Are the Draconian sentences that have been pronounced, as indicated in the press release of the Presidency of this Party, the only reason for undertaking such measures which can have tragic consequences for the entire Macedonian population ? The observation that the sentences of the Municipal Court in Skopje according to which 10 Albanians have been sentenced to 65 years of imprisonment was the drop that overfilled the glass is not far from the truth. At a time when the census is underway in Macedonia, a faction of the PDP, lead by Dzeladin Murati (after asplit in the Party it was divided into two factions: one headed by Dzeladin Murati and the second, the so called Thaci's faction led by Arber Dzeferija) which is a coalition partner in young Branko Crvenkoski's Government, did not expect such a "blow" and had hoped that the "finish" of the proceedings would be postponed for better times if not crowned with the acquital of some of the accused Albanians.

Only speculations exists regarding the question whether these hopes were really grounded, and these speculatioans were based on the presumptions that the leaders of this Party were promised that the sentences would be symbolic and that some of the accused would be acquitted. Therefore, it can be assumed that the leaders of this Party were "tricked", although it is more than certain that the pronounced sentence is not the only reasons the Albanian Parliamentarians have temporarily left the Parliament. It all began with the census: while on the one hand the Albanian representatives too accepted the Law on the Census, when its operationalization began the Albanian politicians had numerous objections. Starting from those that the law was not complied with to claims that the state was intentionally not issuing citizenship certificates to non-Macedonians. When finally solutions to all the problems seemed close at hand ( the international mission issued its Memorandum in which it is clearly indicated that the census is in no way connected with the issue of citizenship status) pressures grew on the PDP regarding its inadequate tactics along with criticism that most of its political acts to date have been unproductive.

Among other things, the boycotting of the census in

1. Why ? Because at that time there was no item in the census pertaining to citizenship meaning that the possibility of decreasing the number of Albanians could have been avoided. The PDP did not succeed in forcing into acceptance its request for the re-examination and change of electoral units in the republic, so that it suffered a number of failures in the most sensitive period - the few months preceding the new elections. Therefore, perhaps the leadership of this Party is disappointed in itself, considering that some Albanian circles believe them to be the main strategists of this failure. How true these observations are will soon be known, but undoubtedly this act of the Albanian representatives can bring into question the survival of the Macedonian Government.

The Party leadership is equally dissatisfied with the mediation of the European missions. President Dzeladin Murati told the daily paper "Flaka" that "the people that come here to negotiate have offered nothing in specific and have focused exclusively on the preservation of a ficticious stability which reigns in the Republic." He also had specific remarks regarding Gert Arens and Max Van Der .. for whom he said that "although they were informed (by our side) of the problems regarding the census, they supported the views of the Government." Our collocutors, Murati continues, can still not understand the extreme Macedonian nationalism which is the greatest obstacle in the implementation of democratic principles. That is the opinion of the leader of the PDP. However, the other side - the Macedonian political parties are also dissatisfied with Europe, before all because of it concessions to the Albanians.

Hardly anyone in Macedonia is satisfied with Europe's actions, especially after the decision of the court in Luxembourg which did not bring a ruling that would make Greece lift its embargo against Macedonia. In addition, it seems that the European institutions are faced with real fiasco as regards the implementation of the census in Macedonia: the latest news from Western Macedonia indicate that the census- takers are resigning on a mass-scale and that the Serbian population is boycotting the census. If we add to all this the withdrawal of Albanian parliamentarians for an indefinite period of time, then the observation of some of those who are well acquainted with the situation here that this is a crucial year for Macedonia is not far from the truth.

Will this act of the Albanian parliamentarians mark the beginning of the non-institutional activity of Albanians in Macedonia? No. Primarily due to the simple reason that any even superficially politically "educated" Albanian knows that the Albanian issue cannot be solved in Macedonia, but rather in Kosovo. Until the Kosovo problem is solved, the Albanians from Macedonia will only be a cover up for the European institutions that they are doing something in the interest of the Albanians. The Albanians living in Macedonia should definitely understand that stable Macedonia is in the interest of the resolution of the all-Albanian questiron. How stable will it be presently does not really depend so much on either the Macedonians or the Albanians. Its stability is now in the hands of the great powers which are to decide what the future maps of the Balkans will like. The Macedonian public is becoming increasingly aware that Europe knows how to solve the "mess in the Balkans" but cannot go to the very end because of its old sins in these regions. On the other hand, it seems that the USA - which is increasingly becoming among the population here the only hope for the survival of Macedonia it at a loss how to handle this Balkan embranglement.

If Macedonia does not get foreign support, its survival can easily be brought into question. And that not due to inter-ethnic relations: war will never break out in Macedonia because of the Macedonians and Albanians, regardless of how much they hate each other, but rather if and when its neighbours get the signal to initiate the process of "saving" Macedonia. Therefore, war in Macedonia can be initiated from the outside and waged by the Macedonians and Albanians, as the two largest national entities whose confrontation will mark the definite end of Macedonia. Every citizen of this country who cares about Macedonia is aware of that.The president of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov is also keenly aware of that fact and that is why he announced that Macedonia will perhaps request an increase in the number of UN forces on its territory.

When he said that he particularly had in mind the threats from the North and the South which are at present latent and more real that those from the South or West. Due to all these circumstances faced by Macedonia today, the behaviour of the Albanian deputies is yet another element complicating the situation even more. Some say that their act was late for improving their rating among the electorate -since a little more than four months has remained until the elections. If there is truth in the claims that this action is a last attempt to preserve the voters which are in ever greater numbers joining Thaci's faction, then it can already be listed in the sum of abortive actions taken by the leadership of this Party. After all, everything will soon be known.

KIM MEHMETI