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Wednesday, 14 August 2024
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MILS: News from the FYROM, 97-05-08Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>CONTENTS
MILS SUPPLEMENTMILS NEWSSkopje, 08 May 1997[01] DIALOGUE BEGAN WITH CRVENKOVSKI-GEORGIEVSKI MEETINGYesterday's meeting between PM Branko Crvenkovski and the leader of Macedonia's largest opposition party IMRO-DPMNE, Ljupcho Georgievski, marked the commencement of the announced dialogue between Macedonian political parties as regards the compiling of election laws on holding the next parliamentary elections.While assessing yesterday's talks with the PM positively, Ljupcho Georgievski stated after the meeting that several questions had been raised with respect to the current political and economic situation in the country, the elections and everything in connection with the latter. Consensus has been reached as regards the compiling of new election laws ASAP - Georgievski informed, adding that the IMRO-DPMNE has aired its support for a combined election model within which the majority principle would prevail. In the opinion of Georgievski this is merely the beginning of a political dialogue among parties on election laws, which should eventually - through a permanent exchange of views - result in a final version reflecting reality in Macedonia. During talks yesterday, the IMRO-DPMNE also raised the question on the date on which early elections would be staged in the country. In this context Georgievski stressed that the party considered that it would be possible to hold elections as early as this autumn. In the opinion of PM Crvenkovski the objective of this entire series of consultations with political parties is to arrive at the broadest consensus and support possible in terms of determining an election model and complementary provisions, which would be prerequisite to the staging of regular, democratic and fair parliamentary elections. Once the election laws have been outlined, a realistic joint evaluation of a rational time span for its implementation (and the holding of parliamentary elections) is to be compiled - Crvenkovski stated. To him it seemed understandable that the opposition insists on the staging of elections sooner rather than later, but it was also the and democratic and legitimate right of the position to accept or discard this. The SDSM believes in its programmatic commitments and in the course it is to follow in the future. In this sense the party does not rule out early parliamentary elections as impossible - Crvenkovski stated, while adding that he hoped a compromise could be reached through political dialogue among political parties. In the end Crvenkovski announced that he would attempt to defend the viewpoint of the country's PM on this occasion, rather than assuming the role of the SDSM party leader, in order to ensure transparency for the public with regards to what is being discussed with political parties. [02] PF-BILL NOT CONTRARY TO CONSTITUTIONThe Constitutional Court of Macedonia has decided not to instigate procedures to assess the compatibility of the PF-Bill. This practically means that the Bill regulating the use of minority languages at the Pedagogical Faculty (PF) in Skopje is not contrary to the Constitution. Three months after the submitting of the first of six initiatives to evaluate the Constitutional compatibility of the PF-Bill, eight of the nine judges voted against the further pursuing of this matter. Most of them thought the Constitution makes it clear that education in minority languages is a guaranteed right in elementary and secondary education. At the same time it has been assessed that the PF-Bill only facilitates the implementation of this right.Besides this, Macedonian media reminded yesterday, the ratification of this Bill has been the cause of the recent university and secondary school student protests, which have been upsetting the country for several weeks. [03] INVESTIGATIONS ON `TAT' BANKING SCANDAL STARTEDA team of forensic experts of the National Forensic Institute has commenced investigations at the `TAT' bank in Bitola. These were attended by bank owner Sonja Nikolovska and two NBM representatives. The objective of these investigations is to determine the bank's assets and liabilities, the amount of tax money which has been withheld, the total of fictitious loans and the real value of mortgages. Besides this the Public Revenue HQ of Bitola has already filed 7 criminal and tort charges for tax evasion against `TAT' employees, against the `TAM' Insurance Company (owned by the spouse of Sonja Nikolovska), the `Dva Saat' company, the handball clubs `Pelister' and `Pelister TAM' and the `Liberty National' bank. In an interview for MTV, NBM Governor Borko Stanoevski stated that the objection by Sonja Nikolovska with respect to the NBM inspection of her bank has been considered in detail, as well as that it would not have any impact on measures to be taken against the bank. This is due to the fact that the inspection is of a formal legal character, without any material analyses on conditions within the `TAT' bank.A group of around 50 revolted bank clients functioned as a welcoming committee to Sonja Nikolovska in front of the `TAM' premises (where all `TAT' records are being kept and investigations are being conducted) yesterday. The group even attempted to use physical violence, but was prevented from doing so by the police. MTV reports that client representatives met IMRO-DPMNE leader Ljupcho Georgievski in Skopje yesterday. Georgievski fully supported their claims, including the reimbursement of interest rates in addition to deposited funds. In this context the IMRO- DPMNE leader also accepted the clients' invitation to attend a protest meeting scheduled for 10th May. The President of the National Association of `TAT' bank clients, Mende Mladenovski, evaluated talks held two days ago with Deputy PM Ljube Trpevski and Finance Minister Taki Fiti (where clients had once again presented their demands) as unsuccessful. [04] THIS MONTH MACEDONIA PRESIDING OVER `OSCE' FORUMThe Macedonian Radio reports that concordant to the rotational cycle of the presidency, the Republic of Macedonia has officially begun its presidency over the `OSCE' Forum. The two other members of the Presidium for the month of May are Luxembourg and Norway.[05] `IMF' PRESIDENT VISITING MACEDONIAMacedonian media report as of today the President of the IMF, Michel Camdessus, is commencing a three-day visit to Macedonia - together with the IMF Chief-of-Mission for Macedonia Robert Corker. During his stay in Macedonia the IMF President is to meet President Kiro Gligorov, Parliamentary Chairman Tito Petkovski and PM Branko Crvenkovski - in addition to representatives of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Economic Chamber of Macedonia and the Trade Union Federation of Macedonia.[06] SIGNING OF FREE TRADE ZONE AGREEMENT WITH CROATIAUpon invitation of PM Branko Crvenkovski a delegation of high-ranking Government officials from the Republic of Croatia is to visit Macedonia today and tomorrow. The delegation is to be headed by Crvenkovski's Croatian counterpart Zlatko Matesha, while it consists of the Ministers of: Justice; Agriculture and Forestry; Navigation, Transport and Communication; Labour and Social Services and of the Chairman of the Croatian Chamber of Economy. The visit to Macedonia will be marked by the signing of bilateral agreements on the free trade zone and social insurance.[07] ITALIAN MINISTER ANDREATTA IN MACEDONIA TOMORROWThe Italian Defence Secretary Benjamino Andreatta is to arrive on an official visit to Macedonia tomorrow - upon invitation of his Macedonian counterpart Blagoj Handzhiski. The visit is to be marked by the signing of a Defence Cooperation Agreement between both countries, as well as by meetings with President Gligorov and PM Crvenkovski.[08] OBTAINING OF SWISS VISAS FACILITATEDThis Wednesday the Consulate Dept. of the Swiss Embassy commenced its operations. This is to considerably facilitate the obtaining of entrance visas for this country by Macedonian citizens - media report. With an appropriate ceremony this Dept. for Consular Services and Cooperation within the Swiss Embassy has been opened by Macedonian Foreign Secretary Ljubomir Frchkovski.In his speech H.E. Amb. Dr. Gaudens Ruhf provided a short survey of bilateral relations since 1993 when Switzerland recognized Macedonia. The Swiss Diplomat stressed that this Dept. represents the last stage of laying the foundation for solid cooperation. According to Ambassador Ruhf the offices are to adhere to existing bilateral treaties. This necessity has been generated by the fact that app. 40 000 Macedonian nationals live in Switzerland. This also means that Macedonian citizens will no longer be required to travel to Sofia or Belgrade in order to obtain entrance clearances. Yesterday the Swiss Ambassador to Macedonia has been received by President Gligorov as well, and both statesmen underlined the continuous development of bilateral relations. [09] GREEK MEDIA: `PROVOCATION AS REGARDS NAME'Athenian daily `Ta Nea' accuses the US of launching a provocation from the `territory of Skopje' as the information material on the multinational military exercise `Rescuer `97' forwarded officially to all participants a few days ago, contained the name `Republic of Macedonia'. `Makfax' reports that the daily mentioned that these information materials permanently listing the terms `Republic of Macedonia' and `the Macedonian language' had been withdrawn form use immediately after the turbulent reactions of Greek Armed Forces HQ Officers.This resulted in the use of the `FYROM' reference - concordant to UN provisions - in all subsequently provided documents, `Ta Nea' stresses. Another Athenian paper, `Eskoussia', also speaks of one more provocation with respect to the name. This one having to do with the visit of the 20 Greek journalists to Macedonia, and being executed by the Macedonian Government. In this context it is being stated that the invitation forwarded by the Macedonian Information Secretariat referred to the Republic of Macedonia without any quotation marks. [10] NEW CONCEPT ON TAX REFORMS OUTLINEDA-1 TV reports that the new concept on sustaining tax reforms - i.e. the introducing of the VAT-system - has already been agreed upon. Thus trade should be taxed on the basis of the following two rates in the future: one of them would amount to 5% and the other would vary between 18 and 22%. The above mentioned TV station also informs that parliamentary debates on this issue should commence some time after the first half of this month. At present an expert team led by the academician Ksente Bogoev and Dr. Zhivko Atanasovski (Reader at the Skopje School of Economy) is re-designing the Government proposal on tax alleviation within the VAT-system.[11] ATTORNEY-GENERAL BILL: `ONE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND TWELVE DEPUTIES'During yesterday's 66th session the Macedonian Parliament has adopted the first stage of legal provisions on the institution Attorney-General; the draft-bill on public utilities and a decision on the appointment of judges in elementary courts.The basic novelty offered with respect to the Attorney- General, is that this office (which is to cover the entire country ) is to protect state property in legal suits. As it is to encompass all Macedonia, there will only be one Attorney-General and 12 Deputies assigned to larger urban communities. As regards the draft-bill on public utilities, many objections were aired, esp. by the LDP. It has been stated that the Government `loves meddling with local government', that there `has never been a law more contradictory or weak to come out of the Government workshop', that `this law only left a tiny portion of authority to local government - which had been initially outlined through the Law on Local Self-Management, while everything else is being covered by this bill.' SDSM representatives, however, fully supported the draft- bill, stating that all offered provisions `gave greater freedom to mayors, and the regionalization approach in this sector will only increase cost-efficiency and functionality.' [12] PERMANENT BATTLE AGAINST CRIME AND INTERACTION WITH MEDIAThis Wednesday `Police Day' (7th May) has been appropriately marked at the Ministry of the Interior, in the presence of PM Branko Crvenkovski and Minister Tomislav Chokrevski. In his introductory speech Minister Chokrevski announced a permanent battle against crime in order to preserve public order, peace and security in the country. This is to be complemented by continuous cooperation with the media, which is why the post Ministerial Aide for PR is being introduced. Upon expressing his content with the countering of crime so far, Minister Chokrevski stated that crime in Macedonia was not dominant enough to threaten basic functions in the country. According to PM Crvenkovski the fight against crime in all its different shapes is not only a high- priority issue to the Ministry of the Interior, but to the Macedonian Government in general.In honour of this day a delegation of the Macedonian law enforcement - led by Minister Chokrevski - has been received by President Gligorov. MTV reports that talks focused on difficulties confronting the police and the need to introduce further measures and activities concordant to the Constitution and the law, in order to procure a higher level of security, peace and tranquillity for the Macedonian public. [13] PDPA: `REQUESTING LEGITIMACY'The Central Convention of the PDPA has been held in Tetovo yesterday. In the very beginning of this event the national flag of Macedonia was removed from the speaker's podium and replaced with the Albanian one. MTV reports that the highest council of this party summarized local election outcomes with the conclusion that the latter had been considerable. This can be seen from the fact that app. 90 000 voters had opted for this party, thus electing 9 mayors and 170 municipal counsellours.Upon delving into future party activities, PDPA leader Arben Dzhaferi stated that the situation of Albanians in Macedonia was far from favourable. In this sense the party would by all means fight for their acquisition of legitimacy in the state, as this was the only way to secure the implementation of all rights of Albanians in the country. MILS SUPPLEMENT[14] `You Cannot Hide From 150 000 Signatures'(`Vecher' - 5th May 1997)An initiative to stage a referendum may be launched by 10 000 to 150 000 citizens i.e. voters of the Republic of Macedonia. The number of these, however, depends on the relevance of a current issue. Such an initiative may also be launched by the Parliament i.e. its members, the Government and the Head of State. Otherwise the referendum is being announced by the Legislative House (`Zakonodaven dom'). The instigating of such a procedure however does not entail an imperative, i.e. the Parliament has to give its majority vote prior to the staging of a referendum. An exception to this are requests backed by 150 000 signatures. In this case MPs are required to announce a referendum, provided the law and the Constitution determine the contentious issue as one subject to this procedure. These, in short, are the main traits of the Government proposal as regards the enacting of a Referendum and Civic Initiative Bill. This process is to be commenced within the Parliament towards the close of this month. The proposed text includes sections connected to the preparing and conducting of a referendum and electoral voting, which are largely relying on election laws. In cases where the Constitution states that a decision has to be reached via referendum (changing of Macedonian borders, the decision of joining an alliance or community with other states), there is not much work to be done, except for its announcement and execution. The mentioned issues are being decided by the Parliament, but they remain inapplicable should they not be confirmed at the referendum. An initiative for a referendum to alter the Constitution may also be launched by a minimum of 30 MPs, 150 000 signatures of Macedonian citizens - in addition to the President and the Government. Should 150 000 voters instigate such procedures, the Parliament becomes obliged to stage a referendum. In terms of other initiators the text makes room for provisions according to which the Legislative House accepts the initiative should the majority of MPs vote in favour of it. There are two alternatives as regards determining a certain issue via referendum: concordant to the basic one the majority of the overall electorate in Macedonia need to vote in favour of a certain decision, whereas a second option is based on the overall turn- out; in this case there are two standards to be met - the turn-out needs to be over 50% and the majority of these must have voted in favour of the decision. In addition to the Constitutional referendum, the law also provides regulations for staging a referendum in order to ratify international treaties. A separate chapter is `dedicated' to the legislative referendum, where it has been outlined in detail that this process may precede the enactment of legal provisions by the Parliament or complement the already ratified acts by this body. Provisions which exclude budgetary issues, tax, national reserves, elections and appointments as well as the granting of clemency from referendum voting, have been complemented by several more regulations as well. Thus the Government also prohibits the holding of a referendum on laws passed via curtailed procedures in states of emergency, for extraordinary defence purposes or with regards to laws immediately affecting the implementation of the budget. A request for a legislative referendum may be submitted by any MP, by the Government or at least 10 000 voters. In such cases the Parliament will insist on the complete and thorough justification of such an undertaking. Should it require additional explication of the initiator (if necessary) and encounter lack of cooperation, it may decide not to stage the referendum. The opposite is only possible if the majority of the overall parliamentary membership have voted in favour of doing so. It has however been emphasised that the Parliament is obliged stage a legislative referendum if the initiative is supported by 150 000 signatures. Besides this, the proposed text offers deadlines within which the Parliament has to decide on the staging of a preceding referendum: 30 days are given since the submission of the request, i.e. 7 days in case of an ancillary referendum. The latter is regulated by one more restriction - the initiative has to be formally launched within 7 days since the enactment of the law by the Parliament. Decisions reached via a (Constitutional or another kind of) referendum are binding and obligatory. The draft-bill proposes a period of 2 years, in case of a Constitutional referendum, in which it is not allowed to pass a decision contrary to that reached via referendum. In case of a legislative referendum to deadline has been decreased to one year. From the moment it has been decided to stage a referendum until its actual implementation, the draft-bill proposes that not less than 30 but not more than 60 days may pass. The right to opt for a referendum is only granted to those citizens who are registered voters. Any advertising of the referendum has to cease 48 hours prior to its execution. The law also covers many other issues connected to voting by referendum. Indeed, it is quite obvious that the Government attempts to clog up all legislative loopholes which have been the cause of so many controversies so far. (end)mils news 08 May 1997Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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