THE AUTHORITIES WON - THE OPPOSITION IN THE STREETS

AIM, Skopje, November 2, 1994

The elections in Macedonia are over. The second round of voting held on October 30, passed with minor technical problems, but not even the forecasts about them did not convince the greatest opposition parties, VMRO-DPMNE and the Democratic Party to change their minds and abandon the idea about the boycott of the elections. They remained firm in their stance that the authorities had directed the elections, that it is a case of state forgery.

The parties of the present Government coalition, the Social Democratic League, the Liberal Party and the Socialist Party won a more than a convincing victory. Their election coalition titled the Alliance for Macedonia was in the lead even after the first round, but it had ensured only eight deputies, while the opposition VMRO and the Democratic Party had none. Without its greatest rivals who proclaimed boycott of the elections, the Alliance for Macedonia did not have a difficult battle to fight. According to the data presented by the State Election Committee, this coalition won as many as 89 deputy seats in the Parliament out of the total of 120 deputies.

Contrary to the parties in the Alliance, their hitherto partner in the Government, the greatest party of the Albanians, the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP), did not do too well. While it was represented by 22 deputies in the Parliament so far, it seems that in the future it will not have more than 11-12. The rivals of the PDP were the Party of Albanians, the National Democratic Party - which won three seats, and the so-called informal group which appeared with "independent candidates" and won probably four or five seats. The Albanians in the Parliament of Macedonia will also be represented by an independent candidate, so there will be about twenty Albanian deputies altogether.

The second round of the elections passed without much euphoria that had marked the first round when the Alliance on one, and the opposition VMRO and the DP on the other side, fought bitterly for each and every voter. On the very day of the parliamentary elections, the two opposition parties organized protest voting for new elections in several cities of Macedonia, and the very next day they publicised the results claiming that 33.79 per cent of the citizens with the right to vote were in favour of new elections. This figure seems amazing, because it is certain that national minorities did not vote for new elections. Even the opposition itself says that this was just a check of the disposition of the citizens and that this was a sound foundation for collecting 150 thousand signatures in just a few months, that are necessary for the Parliament to decide about calling new elections according to the Contitution.

The stance of the Alliance is that the Parliament will democratically discuss the issue of the referendum, should the opposition gather the necessary number of signatures. The citizens of Macedonia believe that the composition of the new Parliament will not be as interesting for the public as the previous one. But, the Alliance thinks differently. Besides satisfaction with such a convincing victory, conviction is expressed that the new Parliament will be more efficient in rounding off the political and the economic system, but also that there will be less theatrical and circus scenes. It is also added that the parties from the Alliance will operate in separate deputy groups.

Now, that is where a new issue may be opened. Since the leading party of the Alliance, the Social Democratic League, has 57 deputies out of the total number number the Alliance has won, and according to the forecasts of the party headquarters, it will reach the much-vaunted figure of 61 (the voting will continue in 9 election districts), the question is whether the relations between the parties may be disturbed after some time. Will perhaps all the parties represented in the parliament become the opposition, and the Social Democratic League remain the only party of the "position"?

Ever since the previous Parliament was constituted, the relations between the Social Democrats and the Liberals (who won 27 seats) often oscillated. In their views of politics and the economy, however, they are almost identical, especially concerning the future development of the country in the internal and the external sphere. The Liberals have also an exceptionally powerful economic structure among their members. They had fewer deputies in the Parliamentand and this strogly influenced the inter-party relations and interests. That was certainly the reason why the Liberals entered the election race with 30 per cent of their candidates within the coalition, while the Social Democrats had 60 per cent of them. It will also remain noted that the Liberals often expressed dissatifaction with their "subordinated position", sometimes even flirting with the VMRO-DPMNE in order to send a signal to the Social Democrats that their position may be shaken. It might become evident what their mutual relations will actually be like when the new Government is formed.

The statements of foreign election observers who are just leaving Macedonia, were quoted a lot in the media. Their general stance is that the elections were basically democratic, free and fair, although there were also quite a few omissions. The world has welcomed the victory of the Alliance for Macedonia. Representatives of an American Association, the ON and the UNPROFOR attended a reception given by the President of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, whom they congratulated for the victory at presidential elections and expressed their happiness that they will be seeing him for the next five years. They also stressed on the ocassion that full recognition of Macedonia by the USA could soon be expected. At the same time, leading Greek media assess the victory of the Alliance for Macedonia as the victory of President Gligorov's policy which is in general supported by the USA, as it is stressed, and therefore it opens the possibility to continue negotiations in the Greek-Macedonian dispute.

The most powerful opposition parties, the VMRO and the DP, will remain outside the Parliament when the negotiations with Greece continue. It will be convenient for them to avoid responsibility for any concessions which might be made in relation to Greece. However, the fact that they will not be in the Parliament need not necessarily mean a better position concerning some issues. On the contrary, out-of-parliamentary activities always have weaker effects. When speaking of the VMRO and the DP, it might even have a counter-effect on the stability of the parties and their future.

PANTA DZAMBAZOSKI