SMOKY ON THE INSIDE - WINDY ON THE OUTSIDE

parliament

Are the Albanians Leaving the Government and the Parliament

AIM Skopje, January 24, 1996

Are the Albanians leaving the Macedonian Government and the Parliament. The question which torments leaders of the Albanian parties at this moment is which is the optimum political strategy which could be activated in circumstances when participation in the Parliament and the Government coalition is ineffective. Abdurahman Aliti, leader of the Party of Democratic Prosperity (the greatest Albanian party in Macedonia which is a member in the coalition of Crvenskovski's Government) declared that the "glass is full to the brim" and that, therefore, members of his party might leave the Government and empty the benches in the Parliament, but he failed to say where they would go and when they would come back.

Nowadays, Macedonia represents "the first circle of a political alternative" which still waits to accumulate sufficient energy in order to settle down in its own epicentre. That is exactly why it needed a long time to see and understand what was happening with former Yugoslavia and courage to break away from its "big brother" - Serbia, and even more patience to convince the world to find it on global maps. After many events such as the one in "bitpazar" (the old market place) in which innocent Albanian victims were killed (always under "unclarified circumstances"), it still has not reached the level of self-consciuosness which will enable it to realize that such as it is - multiethnic and multicultural

• it cannot move forward with a narrow-minded national concept. In other words, Macedonia is still afraid to face the concept of a civic society, and that is why it is still mimicking the "hybrid" social course consisting of opposed elements of civic and national, combining them in accordance with immediate needs and "ears" which are listening. In the meantime, it is living on the long "seen through" strategy which is nevertheless bearing fruit. Namely, it has managed to convince both ethnic Macedonians and the international public that the Albanians were its only ynstabilizing factor. And while in the first years after it had become independent many unresolved inter-ethnic issues could be justified by the platitude that it was impossible to do some things "overnight", nowadays everyone just has to finally realize that this "night" is simply too long, since it lasts for more than four years, and seems as if it has just begun.

In such a political environment, activities of Albanian political parties proceeded on the very margins and directed towards two extremes: to contribute to the global solution of the Albanian issue with Kosovo at the centre, and to realize its own, one could say local, demands. Stretched between these two extremes, the Albanians squandered an enormous amount of energy to convince the Macedonian party that they were not just temporary sub-tenants, nor a destructive factor which is interested only in unstabilizing Macedonia. This is in fact a perfidious game which is aimed at veiling economic machinations by interethnic problems. At the time of transformation of what used to be social ownership into private, or as sometimes called the great robbery, the Macedonian party is trying, and evidently succeeding, to push the Albanians out of the process of privatization.

By an abuse of state-controlled media in Macedonian language, the Albanians are represented as unintelligent (since they are not aware that adequate personnel is necessary for a university), destructive (since, when a criminal is arrested, if he is an Albanian, his ethnic origin is always stressed), disloyal to the state (since only they are armed, while the others know only what toy arms are), and as people who are not interested in universal values (they are satisfied with life in a ghetto, since they refuse to learn the language of the environment contrary to members of the "constitutional" nation in Debar and Tetovo, for example). All this is simply aimed at concealing the fact that the fundamental difference between the Albanians and the Macedonians is not just of psychological nature, but in quantification: if the Albanians had the opportunity to decide on the future of the state they live in to the extent it belongs to them, maybe they would use it to show that they were not as "voracious" nor as "indifferent" to others as believed.

All things considered, the strategy applied is the one "give them little things" and "let them get tired of asking for fundamental demands while we complete our deals", strategy which has already produced specific results for the Macedonian political establishment. The Albanians, at least when speaking of their justified demands, have not moved one step forward since the first years of Macedonian independence, that is from the stage when they were told that their problems could not be resolved overnight. That is why they are faced with the issue: how and where to from here? Especially because this is happening when the political concept on "Macedonians and other citizens" seems to be used more frequently, when division of power had split even those of the "same flesh and blood" (dissolution of the Alliance for Macedonia - Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia and the Liberal Party is in sight, as a result of the dispute about division of ministries) which marked just a change in form, while essentially, decisions are still made by narrow circles and "committees", when in all so-called non-governmental and civic institutions and organizations things still operate according to the principle "to have as many of them as we must" and finally, when the fundamental quality of each Albanian is to be obedient and not to dare lecture those who have the right to create their own state given to them by God himself. In short, in conditions when there are two possibilities: either you can behave and nod your head or, if you dare state your opinion and disagree with the concepts of the "state creating" brethren, you may be marked as "disloyal". In other words, limits to which he may meddle in "sublime" matters of the state are precisely set for every Albanian.

Indeed, it is a question which is the optimum political strategy that could be activated in circumstances in which participation in the Parliament and being a coalition partner in the Government bear no results. Especially at a time when the Albanians, in general, have numerous unresolved problems, starting from the problem of Kosovo, and when each incautious step might turn the course of events in the direction of forces which wish for a conflict to spring up between the Albanians and Macedonians and thus be of assistance to the "elder brother" - Serbia, now when it should finally face the problem of Kosovo. These questions, of course, torture leaders of the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) (the greatest party of the Albanians in Macedonia) the most, since it is the coalition partner of the administration which the Albanians are not satisfied with, nor do they have any reason to be. The question how true allegations are that the status of a coalition partner in the Government has brought as much benefit to the Albanians as they would have got anyway is highly disputable, but there is no doubt that, with its attitude, the PDP has supported all possible evidence on tolerance and readiness to contribute to a better future of Macedonia. The question why the other party has not used this opportunity can also be a subject of various analyses, depending on the intentions and inclinations of the analysts, of course. One general explanation could suggest that the Macedonian party is not interested in making a deal with the Albanians, or that it is simply buying time, aware of "directives" addressed to the Albanians from abroad which keep recommending them to maintain institutional dialogue, although it has not born fruit so far. Such suggestions, nevertheless, keep coming occasionally even from Thirane and from Ibrahim Rugova whenever he visits Macedonia.

In the interspace between these "directives" and the reality that Skopje for a long time now has not been the actual "capital" of official Macedonian policy (as in most of dwarf countries in the Balkans), lies the coarse reality that the ministers Albanians in the Government of Mr Crvenkovski are nothing but a political decoration which adorns Macedonia's "democracy", and that Albanian parliamentarians are nothing but witnesses of their own political defeat. Maybe that is what forced Abdurahman Aliti, leader of the PDP, to warn the public that the "glass was brimful" (in an interview given to weeklies "Fokus" and "Koha") and that representatives of his party may leave the government and the parliament benches. In fact, the real question is whether this party has any other choice but to withdraw its ministers from the Government, who are at the moment accomplishing one single goal - sustaining themselves with high salaries (some say plus the "tribute for patriotism" which they collect from their fellow-Albanians whenever they do something for them), if it wishes to preserve its political being and trust the voters placed in them. It seems that there is too much smoke in the office of Prime Minister Crvenkovski, so noone can even notice the ministers Albanians, and noone seems to be taking seriously their threats that they are leaving, aware that "strong winds" are blowing outside. There are rumours even that when any of the ministers Albanians take the floor, trying to justify some of their demands, their colleagues Macedonians leave on a coffee-break. The decision to leave both the Government and the parliament benches could be, in fact, the only possibility left for the Albanians, but it demands an answer to a highly delicate question: where, how and when will they come back? It is self-understood that there are dilemmas concerning political effects of such a radical move. The Albanian ministers and deputies have nowhere else to go but to Tetovo where they will wait for the Macedonian party to adopt all the laws and construct the state according to its own wishes (as if it were any different so far?). By leaving the parliament and the Government in order to "prevent" their Macedonian colleagues in "strengthening the legal, civic state", they can show that they have exhausted all possibilities to prove that they too were interested in stability of the state which is theirs too.

President of the Republic, Kiro Gligorov, has in the meantime recovered from the attempt on his life and begun carrying out his regular duties. Like so many times before, he will probably call the Albanian leaders to persuade them to be patient. Chroniclers who like to look upon the Macedonian political scene with a dose of humour, claim that the effects of "doses" of optimism the President dopes the Albanian leaders with usually last six months. And after that, when they become "nervous" again, Gligorov prescribes a new "treatment" in the form of empty promises and advices to be patient. According to the same circles, local Albanians all suffer of diabetes as a result of "sweet" words President Gligorov feeds them with. But, be that as it may, time for political calculations in Macedonia has still not expired. Therefore, in making each step, the Albanian parties must keep in mind the political environment of the Balkans. But this should by no means mean that the Albanians should forget their own interests and their justified demands. The sad fact remains that the small amount of civic connective tissue necessary for a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural state such as Macedonia to survive is irretrievably melting. And the Albanians have paid their debt of readiness for political dialogue and tolerance a long time ago. This is obvious to all those who have eyes to see and heads to understand the state of affairs. There is no use to waste efforts and proof on the others anyway. It is senseless to knock on the door of the deaf. It is senseless to try to convince them that a state cannot be built on words and that the policy of empty promises is quite similar to yellow autumn leaves. They fall off in the smallest breeze and leave the tree bare.

KIM MEHMETI