FIENDISH PARALLEL

AIM Skopje, June 11, 1996

"The parliament is not competent to schedule a referendum", this is in short the answer of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia to the demand of two extra- parliamentary opposition parties, the VMRO-DPMNE and the Democratic Party, which managed to collect more than 220 thousand signatures of citizens who are in favour of a referendum for reaching the decision whether new elections would be scheduled or not. Tha this would be the outcome was indicated by the way the ruling coalition had treated the initiative all this time. At the very beginning of collecting signatures, the Government announced adoption of a law which would precisely state the manner in which signatures were to be collected in any such initiative. In a race for time, initiators of collecting signatures were quicker - they managed to collect more than 220 thousand signatures and submit them to the parliament before it adopted the mentioned law. Then, during verification of the status of those who had signed the initiative (it was established that little over 171 thousand of them were voters), the Minister of justice declared that the number of collected signatures did not oblige the parliament to actually schedule a referendum on early elections. The President of the Republic also issued a statement, saying that in the past hundred years elections had not been scheduled by a referendum in any country in the world. When the initiative finally entered into parliamentary procedure, first the assembly committees reached a conclusion that there was no constitutional foundation for organizing a referendum, which was in the end adopted by majority of deputies. The affair can be observed from two angles. The first, formal and legal one, points out that the Constitution of Macedonia recognizes referendum as a manner of exercising power and it gives the right to the parliament to organize it concerning issues which are within its competence. This is the "catch" which enables different interpretations. Mandate of deputies can terminate before four years expire either by their individual resignation or collective self-dissolution of the parliament. That is why collection of 150 thousand signatures in favour of the demand for a referendum on early elections is interpreted by ones as a legal way to have a referendum which will enable the electorate to decide whether early elections will be scheduled or not, and by the others, those in power, that it is not possible since early elections are not within the competence of the parliament (having forgotten the possibility of self-dissolving).

The other angle is political, of course. Alleged defficiency of the Constitution is just a shield for failing to grant the request of at least one fifth of the electorate who, in just four days while the action lasted, put their signatures on the demand to the parliament to schedule the referendum on early elections. This was quite clear from the discussion which took place in the parliament on the occasion. Briefly told, all the deputies from the ruling parties have in the manner of experts for humanitarian law argued that there was no foundation for scheduling a referendum, there was a series of discussions in which, in the ardour of polemic, they qualified the extra-parliamntary opposition and its initiative as a trick intended to destablize the "oasis of peace"! The discussion was used to disqualify political opponents. Both members of the SDSM and the Socialists did it scolding the Liberals and the initiators of the action among the Macedonian parties, and the PDP reproached the PDPA-NDP among the Albanians.

The level of the discussion was astonishingly low, because it revealed that the majority in the parliament were people with the "old" view of democracy. The spirit of Kardelj (ideologist of Tito's regime) soared around the Assembly hall, everyone just waited for the new "central committee" to reach conclusions! "We have another proof on operation of a party, and not of a legal state", leader of the Democratic Party Petar Gosev stated. In the whole hubbub of exchange of political labels, the ruling coalition cared for nothing else but for "demonstration of force" - its disciplined deputies all voted in favour of the conclusion that there was no constitutional foundation for scheduling the referendum. The authorities simply ignored the fact that 220 thousand people put their signatures on the demand for the referendum and that this was, to say the least, an expression of their discontent with what was happening in the state. Unconceivable arrogance was manifested which was probably an expression of certainty of the authorities that they were in full control of everything.

Macedonian weekly Fokus with the lagest circulation, in an article written by "Josip Broz Tito" in his mother Serbo-Croat tongue, titled "Burn the Reichstag" ironically comments the mentioned session of the parliament: "Finally the Day dawned. The day when the opposition in the best way exposed itself. Before our very eyes, they demanded violation of constitutional norms, because meagre hundred odd thousand idlers think of nothing but getting hold of power at any cost, the power we have spilt so much blood for and filled out so many ballots in their name. Instead to sit down and wait for the central tv news program and the moment when the merry news about rise of pensions for March this year would arrive, they chose to trample over the Assembly lawns. They are dissatisfied because, allegedly, pensions are two months late. This is the nihilistic approach to objective reality, contrary to collectivist conception of such an act as a wish of the Government to return us to a better past instead to force us into the uncertain future."

All the initiators of the action of collecting signatures can do now is appeal to the Constitutional Court which can reach the decision contrary to the one reached by the parliament. In that case, the referendum will be inevitable. But, such an outcome is not likely at all, simply because members of this court are supporters of the ruling coalition which had, after all, appointed them. "Of course, we are not too optimistic, because this state has a serious problem that a large part of judiciary is controlled by the authorities", says President of the VMRO-DPMNE Ljupco Georgievski. Asked whether apart from informing the Western institutions he would take any other steps, Georgievski declared: "I can tell you that we are swamped by calls of citizens from various groups such as workers, pensioners, students, but also political parties with which we negotiate and which demand exercising rights by means of street democracy". Assessments about the possibility of people going out into the streets are controversial. Those who believe that those who have signed the initiative will persist in exercising their right, think that everything is possible. Contrary to them, those who rely on the fact that actually a small number of people (a couple hundred or a thousand ot two, depending on the source) who gathered in front of the parliament building during the discussion on the initiative, claim that the people have got used to putting up with anything and that there is no chance of any major protest to occur.

What this summer will bring, remains to be seen.

Parliamentary discuussion on the initiative for scheduling the referendum on early elections pushed aside what could be called the news of the week. Ministry of health confirmed that poisoning of students of the third class of secondary medical school in Tetovo on an excursion, was not caused by food, but that it was a case of so-called "mixed intoxication". By analysis of biological material of the poisoned students, existence of aminophenazone and phenazone was established, which are substances which were once used as pain killers but have been withdrawn from use about twenty years ago. If consumed in large doses, these substances can lead to serious health disorders, and even death! Large quatities of coffeine and nicotine were also established. In this way, at least one ministry completed its job - it determined the reason of poisoning of about a hundred students some of whom are still under cure in Skopje and Tetovo. Another ministry, the one of internal affairs still has to do its job, the hardest one - to determine together with investigative judges who and in what manner gave poison to the students. It is superfluous to say that all possibilities are still in circulation. Tetovo has been buzzing about it for days, each and everyone on account of his own "reliable source" claims what has actually happened - from involvement of the former Yugoslav People's Army and its Counter Intelligence Service, Macedonian nationalists, through the role played in the incident by various secret services and the authorities all the way to allegations that the Albanians and their (sexual) vices were behind it!

On the occasion, several parties and associations organized a protest gathering which filled up the city square in Tetovo. Media in Macedonia reported and commented in the well knowm manner about the Albanians as natural enemies of the Macedonian state. Especially because renowned "enemies" spoke at the gathering - troublesome Muqereme Rusi, notorious Fadil Suleimani and the "radical" Arben Xhaferi (for a few days broadly discussed because of his statement "The Albanians will accept to study in Tirana and Pristina if the western part of Macedonia will be annexed to Albania")! Similar things are going on within the two ethnic groups. On the one hand, the fact that people are upset is only too normal, everyone wishes for fundamental safety for oneself and one's family. The general situation in the state is such that everything must be put on the political balance. The thing common to all these developments is not just chilling of interethnic relations, but a growing gap between ethnic groups. In such circumstances, they are doing all kinds of things to each other. Just as until recently among the Macedonians, those who were in favour of a dialogue with the Albanians were reproached for it, said that they were "national traitors", nowadays among the Albanians, an internal differentiation is going on between those who participate in the authorities and those who refuse to do it. In the case of poisoning of the students, objections were addressed to deputy minister of health, Ilir Llumi, who claimed as a physician in a special program of TV ART from Tetovo that unusual behavior of the students could be explained by a psychosis, fear caused by panic, implying that this was a acse of food poisoning. His own ministry denied him. For that his name was put up on placards and it was shouted in Tetovo demonstrations. Not in a very good light. In the Macedonian parliament, deputies of the PDP used the occasion of the discussion about the referendum to get even with those from PDPA and NDP. They have used the wrong cause, however. By defending the thesis about the lack of constitutional foundation for scheduling elections in order to slap their (political and Albanian) opponents on the wrists, they reproached them for having assumed the role of "honest Albanians". They were even praized by the leading journalist of the weekly Puls in the commentary called "Paralls". There is nothing controversial in behavior of the deputies - everybody is behaving in compliance with their stands. And this is good since in this specific case, it is a good thing that a collectivity is being broken, especially the ethnic one. The dilemma which cannot be avoided is whether "party differentiation" should occur along the ethnic division. Everybody amomg their own. There is a parallel political differentiation - Macedonians among themselves, the Albanians among themselves. In the spirit of the good old division into "honest" ones and "enemies of the system". The old political mentality obviously does not recognize ethnic differences.

ISO RUSI