CLOSING OF NATIONAL RANKS

AIM Skopje, 29 May, 1997

In his most recent report (of May 15) on the situation in Macedonia in which he suggested the extension of the UNPREDEP mandate, Secretary General, Kofi Annan, inter alia said that despite the deteriorated situation in the neighbourhood (particularly in Albania), one of the reasons for the presence of the international forces lay in inter-ethnic relations in the country which could be an "important factor of destabilization". It was in this context that he pointed to the recent protest of Macedonian students against the use of the Albanian language at the Pedagogic Faculty in Skopje, although the Parliament gave green light to the Government's proposal. These demonstrations, in which there was mention of gas chambers for the Albanians, in Secretary General's opinion "reflected a certain degree of intolerance and xenophobia".

These assessments from the UN Secretary General's report have been confirmed in full only ten days after its issue, in an incident with the members of the Albanian and Macedonian nationalities as main protagonists. The incident happened in the centre of Gostivar, a town in Western Macedonia with the Albanian majority population, and it was by sheer luck that bloodshed was avoided. The conflict started when a group of Macedonians pulled down a mast in front of the Commune with the Albanian flag flying together with the state, Macedonian and Turkish flags and tore down the flag with a two-headed eagle. The worst was avoided when the local police intervened and, although late, did its job. However, this was not the end of this conflict which has far broader dimensions and also involves the highest institutions of the state. The mentioned street clash between members of the two largest ethnic groups in the country was preceded by a series of events which signify a new wave of estranged inter-ethnic relations, which many consider to be the key to stability.

Chronologically speaking, the incident started with the decision of the Communal Board of Gostivar (similar decision were brought by some other communes with the majority Albanian population) to run up national symbols of the three largest ethnic communities in front of the communal building: the Macedonian flag (as the symbol of the state), the Albanian and Turkish flags (as ethnic symbols). This decision irritated representatives of the Macedonian nationality in this commune and they filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ruled that flags could not be flown before the communal building, with the exception of the state flag, and that one only on national holidays. The Albanians reacted to this ruling by calling a rally for the protection of their flag, which they held on May 26, a day before the mentioned fight. On the same day (May 27) when the mast with the Albanian flag was pulled down, the Gostivar Mayor, a member of the opposition Party of Democratic Prosperity of the Albanian (PDPA), put up a new flag on the other mast. In the end of this "cycle" the Constitutional Court reacted again demanding the communal authorities to carry out its decision or they will have ask state authorities for help in carrying out the ruling.

While the final epilogue of this latest dispute in the Macedonian - Albanian relations in Macedonia is awaited several moments should be mentioned. The information to the Constitutional Court was submitted by the Advisory Group of the ruling Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM) which is considered to have a tolerant relation towards requests of the non-Macedonian population, and not by the VMRO, as it was expected. On the other hand, the decision on the use of flag in the Commune was supported by all the Albanian parties, including members of the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) which is a member of the SDSM Government coalition. Irrespective of the law, which, as a matter of fact, hardly anyone is able to understand because of a specific "Rashomoniad" resulting from the fact that there is no law on the use of flags (the old one, including several amendments which were unknown to the former Minister of Justice, are from the times of the SFRY), the hoisting of the Albanian flag has significantly increased the adrenaline level in the Macedonian political quarters.

The initiative of the Gostivar SDSM branch, which a branch of that same party from Tetovo also joined, announcing the collection of signatures of citizens in support of the demand for the removal of the Mayor of Tetovo (also a member of PDPA), as well as the initiative for the dissolution of the Tetovo Assembly which has the Albanian majority, because of its alleged "Great-Albanian policy", speak of a kind of homogenization of the Macedonian political camp if we take into account the fact that these actions are identical to those of the "nationalistic" VMRO-DPMNE and its satellites. On the other hand, when it comes to ethnic moments, despite certain intolerance, homogenization is also evident in the Albanian camp. What has started after the demonstrations against the use of the Albanian language at the Faculty of Pedagogy, will in all likelihood gain even greater momentum now, after the incident with flags.

The two Albanian opposition parties, the mentioned PDPA and the smaller one, National Democratic Party (NDP) have already announced a possibility of uniting into a single party to be called the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDA). Branches of these parties in several large cities have already carried out most of the preparations and informed their centers on their wish to unite. This is not much of a surprise if it is known that they have closely cooperated since 1994 when the PDPA was founded, but what is more interesting is the timing of this initiative which is believed to stem precisely from the events in connection with the use of the Albanian language and flag. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that the initiative came now, and not before the local elections. Although union with PDP is now out of the question, there is undoubtedly a consensus when it comes to issues relating to national identity. As an illustration let us mention an event of May 27 when Mayors of all communes with the Albanian majority population in Macedonia, regardless of their party affiliation, had signed the Declaration in support of Tetovo University.

Since the situation on the Macedonian side is identical, it can be said that despite differences within "ethnic political camps", which had often served as a basic measure for delineating the political spectrum in Macedonia, the recent events are rapidly decreasing these differences with an evident tendency of reducing this process to two basic colours - both national. The denouement of this situation will occur at the next parliamentary elections when, in all appearance, the ethnic image, parallel to the unavoidable economic problems, will play another important political role and greatly influence the division of the electoral cake. Since there is a possibility for the calling of early elections (this fall or next spring), some parties have probably estimated that this is the moment to prepare the ground. SDSM, which in all elections held to date proved to be a masterful player, this time too chose excellent timing for launching the mentioned initiatives for the assessment of constitutionality and for the dissolution of the Communal Board because of the "Greater-Albanian policy" it pursued, obviously expecting to improve in that way the "negative" image of the party which sold "Western Macedonia to the Albanians".

IBRAHIM MEHMETI