THE PARTY PRESIDENT OF ALL CITIZENS

Is Gligorov the President of all Macedonians?

AIM, Skopje, 7 January, 1997

In his numerous statements just before the new year Kiro Gligorov, President of Macedonia, resolved a dilemma - he finally showed that he is the President of the ruling SDSM, and not of all the citizens as he claimed at the beginning - but he raised a whole series of questions as to which way will the Macedonian policy go this year.

Party affiliation of the president of any state is not an unknown or illogical fact. It is not rare, but rather a rule, behind any president stands a party. Even before his first election for President, in late January 1991, in the second voting round (the then winning Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE and the Albanian parties did not vote in the first round) Gligorov said to his (then reformed communists SKM-PDP) that he will forget his party affiliation if he is elected President.

Let us not forget that the international relations were rather tense at that time and that VMRO-DPMNE won 38 out of 120 places in Parliament, mostly on the tide of Albanophobia. It is interesting that after the fist round of those first true elections, this party called a press conference intending to cancel its participation in the second round, and shocked by the results it learned of just before the conference, remained in the election race!

After the elections ensued long negotiations regarding the division of power, since no one had a simple majority in Parliament necessary for the election of government. First the Parliament was constituted and its President swiftly elected - the first man of the then Alliance of Liberal Forces (naturally the Macedonian Ante Markovic) - Stojan Andov. All the rest took time - the President was elected after a month and the first, expert government three months after the constitution of the Parliament, which was beyond all the constitutional deadlines.

After that, having in mind that the VMRO-DPMNE was a party with largest number of deputies in Parliament, a "non-national" healthy block of parties was formed under the patronage of President Gligorov who at that time embarked upon his days of glory. He balanced on both (nationally opposed) sides in Parliament (and government), which were trying to play by the rules imposed by the popularity and authority of Gligorov and the parties he accepted (the Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia, the Reform-Liberals and the Socialists) and the formula worked. On the one hand all the "extremists" were marginalized, and on the other, the authorities got "healthy forces".

If we turn back we shall see that this was precisely the formula which worked "at full speed" at the second parliamentary elections - with a triumphant victory of the Alliance for Macedonia (SDSM, the Liberals and the Socialists) with Gligorov at the helm, who actively participated in the campaign and who, at the closing rally in Skopje, cried out "Do not leave me alone!" which, according to the results, many think was crucial, although many things remained unclear regarding the rigging of both presidential and parliamentary elections (the largest opposition parties withdrew after the first round, while the "legitimacy" of the elections was verified, believe it or not, by the international observers). But, happiness was short lived.

First an attempt was made at President Gligorov's life which caused subsequent disintegration of the Alliance for Macedonia, i..e the expulsion of the Liberals from the government coalition. The absence of Gligorov from the political scene and some moves that were made at the time he was struggling for his life had the character of the "struggle for a successor", which was used for the final settling of scores between the SDSM and the Liberals, who obviously overestimated themselves.

The return of Gligorov to the political scene was only a sign for the leading SDSM group to initiate the reconstruction of the Cabinet, after which the Liberals joined the opposition and their leader Andov left the place of the first man of the Macedonian Parliament, a position he held since the constitution of the first multi-party Parliament. At that time, despite the fact that Gligorov on two occasions sent public appeals to his party to think twice before disbanding the Alliance, Branko Crvenkovski, Prime Minister and the first man of SDSM, refused to give in and won.

At that time President Gligorov was reduced to the role of the British Queen and was almost all together left out of the game. The first move - an indication that Gligorov was seeking to return to the old wing - was his address last summer in the SDSM Youth Organization Camp when, for the first time after more than five years of his presidency, he declared that he considered himself a member of the SDSM, although the "freezing" of party affiliation is one of the basic preconditions of the status of a president of all citizens. Needless to say, his presence in the camp of patriotic youth reduced him to a party activist. To repeat, not because it is rare or an exception, but because in this specific case it represented a cheap demagogy. And finally, his address before the new year: first a review on "the state of the nation" in Parliament, which was not established as a tradition during his two terms of presidency.

After that followed his speech to the economists in the Chamber of Commerce, the organization of a new year's reception and finally the New Year's message broadcast by all the state media. The appearance of "Queen Elizabeth" in public intensified which he avoided after the attempt made on his life, if we do not count the protocolary occasions. He fully sided with the Government in which SDSM has the main say now, supported the stabilization programme, privatization, foreign policy, and speaking of the atmosphere of understanding and confidence, "law and justice which are on our side" he stated that the "main battle was won" and that "the processes have a positive trend...". In passing he rapped some knuckles of all parties which were not to the SDSM's liking.

The until-yesterday partner in power - the Liberals

• with signatures of 16 out of 27 deputies, sent a written protest because the President's address was held before the debate on and adoption of the 1997 budget, being of the opinion that he was thus exerting pressure on deputies. In that part of his speech in which he states that social demagogy is no solution to the problems, the public recognized Socialists and their leader Ljubisav Ivanov - Zing, who in his campaign for local elections fiercely criticized the Government and its inability to cope with the problems. After his speech Ivanov asked Gligorov to receive him, but according to the information, the two hour discussions did not change anything.

Asked by the press to say whether it recognized itself in a part of President's speech mentioning nationalistic parties, through its representative Ljupce Georgievski, the VMRO-DPMNE answered that if Gligorov had them in mind then they have "to state with regret that in his mind he was making an analysis of 1990!" Stojan Andov, President of the Liberals, said that Gligorov's speech was dealing with the SDSM's problems: "The President's address was dominated by a need to bring things in order in the Government and, possibly without reconstruction of the Cabinet, stifle the activity of certain streams within the SDSM. We understand the President of the Republic and his concern. However, we think that he chose to commit himself fully to the SDSM problems thereby distancing himself from his until recent resolute statements that he is the President of all citizens".

President of the second largest Albanian party Arben Xhaferi briefly and clearly characterized Gligorov's speech as an "already seen apology" noting that "his observations on sensitive inter-ethnic relations were particularly disappointing". Leader of the "major" Albanian party Abdurrahman Aliti indirectly answered Gligorov in a BBC programme in the Albanian language. He obviously saw his party as the one entangled in manipulations and spreading radicalism, particularly as concerns education of the Albanians in their mother tongue. He first clearly stated that the claim of President Gligorov that two Faculties of Pedagogy with instruction in the Albanian language have been opened is, to say the least, incorrect.

After that, according to those well-versed, he privately said to Gligorov that he recognized his words from five years ago by which he has annulled all that has been discussed and agreed upon in the meantime, and simply said that they had nothing more to talk about! This is a certain sign that this party will very soon realize its threat about leaving the government. The more so because Tito Petkovski, President of the Parliament, announced the forthcoming adoption of the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure over which, or to put it more precisely, over the use of the "other" languages the wrangling has been going on for over five years! He used a similar tone in his speech to the economists at a cocktail he organized for the New Year when he addressed the nation. In addition, the MRTV (Macedonian Radio and Television) made an intentional faux pas.

After its regular session, the Macedonian Government held a formal one in the honour of the President of the State who attended it. Be it through a set of circumstances or not, in addition to picture, the MRTV broadcast the sound which carried, at least in part, messages different from those publicly uttered. After the local elections which showed that the opposition very much had its price (the number of total votes and the winning of communes and Skopje) it is obvious that the number of those dissatisfied within the ruling SDSM, which had factions even till now, has grown. The well- versed claim that the conflict between the Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckovski (there are even rumours that on two occasions they almost used fists!) is particularly fierce. Not to mention the economic situation, foreign trade deficit, debt repayment as a precondition for the signing of Agreement on Trade and Cooperation with the European Union, social tension...

In such a situation, having in mind the fact that after the election of Ljubisav Ivanov - Zing for its President, the Socialist Party "turned its coat" against its coalition partners and became an "unpleasant surprise" as it demanded its "assets" from the silent partner - which was particularly visible at the local elections at which it was a surprise No.1 - and that the Albanian party is an opponent which strengthened its positions partly with the "stimulation" of the authorities, a slippery ground has been created which, again, necessitates the presence of Gligorov! He deftly avoided implicating himself in the local elections in any way. The election results per se, although they were certainly not decided by his absence, give him the right to say to "his party colleagues: See how you score without me". That is how his come-back to the SDSM happened, or to be more precise, how its first man and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski went back to Gligorov.

None of the factions, which are multiplying, can count on the supremacy without his support. And that is where the catch lies. With his words Gligorov will hardly be able to picture the reality differently - the social problems are already knocking at the door and even the visibly intensified propaganda over the state media can help only for a short while. The return of Gligorov and his party to their original positions will give a modicum of more lasting results if, according to the already used scenario, the things do not shift to the field of inter-ethnic relations. According to some, the cooling of relations with the Albanian partners in power was only and introduction into a "group" satanization of Albanians who "as enemies by birth" work against the Macedonian state and Macedonians. It is not a long way from this to a conflict with a view to "averting the attention". More so as the panic within the authorities is visible. But, according to this scenario, the end-game is also easy to predict.

ISO RUSI