Law on Amnesty Carried Again

A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

The last session of Macedonian Parliament, at which the Law on Amnesty was adopted again (after the refusal of President Gligorov, in accordance with his constitutional rights, to sign the decree on its promulgation) has, at least for the time being, rid Macedonia of political prisoners, on the one hand, and vivisected the "life and work" of President Gligorov on the other, pointing to the appalling fact that police raid in Gostivar in which several people lost their lives (and which was used as a pretext for the arrest of the leading men of the Gostivar and Tetovo local authorities, and whom the new authorities have recently set free) was carried out without any legal ground! In other words, it was another political decision of the authorities that were in power at that time!

AIM Skopje, February 6, 1999

It seems that the new Macedonian opposition has made several mistakes vis-a-vis the new authorities, when it demanded the strict observance of the law. Wishing at all costs to picture every step of the new authorities as the destruction of the state, it scored a goal against its own team. Heated discussion which preceded the repeated adoption of the Law on Amnesty, after President Gligorov's refusal to sign a decree on its promulgation, showed that earlier authorities did not have any legal grounds for police action undertaken in Gostivar on July 9, 1997. During that action three people lost their lives, and many were beaten and harassed, which was used as a basis for political imprisonment of the then Lord Mayors of Gostivar and Tetovo, Rufi Osmani and Alajdin Demiri, respectively, and Presidents of Communal Councils Vebi Bedjeti and Refik Dauti.

On the one hand, the second adoption of the Law on Amnesty in the Macedonian Parliament was an opportunity for the current authorities (the coalition between the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, the Democratic Party for the Macedonian National Unity, the VMRO-DPMNE, the Democratic Alternative-DA and the Democratic Party of the Albanians -DPA) to show their perception of co-habitation in contrast to President Gligorov's understanding of that same term. And they did just that. The vivisection of Kiro Gligorov that Thursday was without precedent. Had he had any moral dignity (if such a category exists in politics) after all that was said about him Gligorov would have withdrawn from politics without much noise. That did not cross his mind despite his numerous blunders by which he had devalued his position of a wise politicians and the author of the "peace oasis".

As it is known, the Macedonian President exercised his constitutional right to refuse to sign a decree on the promulgation of the Law on Amnesty, thus making it clear that his comprehension of co-habitation meant that the new authorities would have to respect his intention, which he fulfilled even during his previous mandate despite the protests of his party - the Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) - namely - to exercise much broader competences than prescribed by the state Constitution. The new authorities were not so accommodating. Naturally, that did not please the President in the least. He therefore sent messages, with tears in his eyes, that the Macedonian people should "one way or another" demand from its new authorities to change the decision on the establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which the Macedonian public simply understood as an incitement to revolt against the new government.

In a recent interview given to a new weekly "Strat"

• (a bulletin of his party SDSM) he practically openly advocated a new National Liberation Revolution. Asked whether there was a way out of this situation (meaning was it possible to bring down those in power?!), Gligorov's recipe was that same as the old opposition did before the elections, the new opposition should unite and "show that it disagreed with the new political voluntarism" as "Macedonia must be defended and preserved!". This might have been interpreted as his way of showing how hard it was for him to endure his mandate (presidential elections are scheduled for mid November) with the new "power-holders" had he not first mentioned that according to the Constitution he had other competences so that to a direct question about his "constitutional powers" enabling him to react when "country was in danger" he answered in an underhanded manner that the Constitution authorised him to proclaim a state of emergency, but that this specific case (diplomatic relations with Taiwan) was not a threat for the security of the state.

But, "to be on the safe side", he also added: "However, if the situation with Taiwan continues, then I can state with certainty that the security and independence of Macedonia might be brought into question and then all measures available to me will be possible" (!?) Is Gligorov advocating the introduction of the state of emergency in Macedonia after inciting the population to revolt, as his reaction to a coup d'etat, admittedly a small one, as he labelled the establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan?

In a way, Gligorov has deserved the cascade of objections he provoked by his comments on the signing of a communique regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Primarily because of his first "co-habitation" gesture: his refusal to sign the decree on the promulgation of the Law on Amnesty which would practically set free only the former Gostivar and Tetovo Lord Mayors and their Presidents of Communal Councils. In contrast, during his presidency he granted pardon to as much as 1,290 prisoners, which is much more then the total number of those serving prison sentences now. Thus went up in smoke, at least regarding figures, his claim that the new Law on Amnesty would disrupt the penal policy and devaluate the Macedonian judiciary. With this act Gligorov wanted to show that he still believed that the state should always be legal and ruled by the law. Same as he did in a number of incidents which heightened the Macedonian-Albanian tensions to the boiling point behind which, as a rule, were the Government or the Minister of the Interior while he was, again as a rule, abroad. And in the end it always turned out that he was the main inspirator.

However, Gligorov is unimportant in this whole story. Let's go back to the last session of the Macedonian Parliament at which, in line with the Constitution, Gligorov was forced by the revolt of the new parliamentary majority to (immediately!) sign the decree on the promulgation of this same Law which was adopted one more time. This practically meant that political prisoners were liberated after the Law was published in the "Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia".

But, heated discussion in favour of and against the adoption of this Law pointed to amazing new details regarding the infamous decision of the Constitutional Court of Macedonia on annulling the decisions of the Communal Councils of Gostivar and Tetovo, in which the Albanians are majority population, on the use of the Albanian national flag. The authorities first fiercely attacked Gligorov, which seemed the easier part of the task as he had "many skeletons in his cupboard", at least as far as this "problem area" is concerned. Fierce opponents, the new opposition, used this opportunity to address to their successors an array of sharp reminders of what the latter had advocated in the past and of their stands on specific issues. Although the local media, some openly, some between the lines, speak of the undignified level of all that was said, it could be said that in contrast to the "lethargy" of the previous Parliament, the discussion was interesting, to say the least, although some disliked the "strong" words that were used.

But what this parliamentary session will be remembered by is the fact that the previous authorities were unmasked in relation to what they call "Gostivar events". In a heated retort between representatives of the new authorities and the new opposition, speaking from the parliamentary rostrum, Minister of Justice first rather enigmatically asked the old power-holders who criticized the adoption of the Law on Amnesty by presenting their view of the role of individual politicians who are now members of the Government coalition (Xhaferi) or are to be released (Osmani, Demiri), to show him the a court or government decision which authorised the undertaking of a police action in Gostivar on July 9, 1997 in which three people fell victim and local population was subjected to harassment.

After that a deputy, who is formally a member of an Albanian opposition party, asked the former Prime Minister to inform the Parliament what was the topic of a conversation he and the then "radical" Xhaferi had with Lord Mayors Osmani and Demiri four days before the police raid in Gostivar. After a political tirade of the former Prime Minister, Minister of Justice quoted a decision of the Constitutional Court which had been for a long time used as a formal pretext for the police action in Gostivar. However, there was no mention of the police action in the decision!

The new opposition has not replied yet. This, de facto, confirms that the intervention in Gostivar was illegal. What is most important is that it was a political decision in the good old (socialist) fashion. It is another proof that the previous authorities used tension between the Macedonians and Albanians as an efficient method applicable in both internal and external circumstances.

AIM Skopje

ISO RUSI