Epilogh MAK-NEWS 08/02/95 (M.I.L.S.) [*]
Merika akomh nea apo thn pGDM, opws ta eide to MILS:
* Synanthsh Antwf-Komra. Synanthsh toy YpPai ths pGDM me ton Bretano
Presbh sthn pGDM. O antiproswpos ths Aystralias sto Beligradi zhthse
kai synanthqhke me ajiwmatoyxoys toy YpEj ths pGDM.
. Antiproswpeia twn MME ths pGDM sthn Slobenia.
* Pwlhsh kalampokioy apo thn kybernhsh ths pGDM. [Den leei pros poy, alla
qa einai arketa endiaferon na maqoyme ean ejagoyne thn "anqrwpistikh
bohqeia" poy pernaei apo thn Qessalonikh.]
. Synexisthke shmera h synedriash ths boylhs ths pGDM gia ton nomo gia to
YpEs, thn KYP kai tis taytothtes.
* Sklhrh kritikh toy NDP kata toy proteinomenoy nomoy gia tis taytothtes.
* To NDP enisxyei tis prospaqeies toy gia thn edraiwsh toy albanikoy
panepisthmioy sto Tetobo.
. H apofash ths Boylgarias na ayjhsei ta telh dieleyshs forthgwn kai
lewforeiwn den isxyei gia thn pGDM.
* Prowqhsh arxaiologikoy xarth ths Makedonias apo thn "Akadhmia kai to
Arxaiologiko Moyseio ths Makedonias", poy kalyptei thn ejelijh ths
perioxhs apo toys arxaioys xronoys ews ton ekxristianismo twn slabwn.
. Eortasmos ths eqnikhs eorths ths Slobenias sta Skopia.
* Endiaferoysa synenteyjh toy antiproedroy toy VMRO-DPMNE sthn "Noba
Makentonigia".
Dhmhtrhs Paneras
Boston, MA
MILS NEWS
Skopje, 8 February, 1995
DIPLOMATIC BRIEFS
- Macedonian Parliament President Stojan Andov yesterday
received Victor Comras, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in
Skopje. They discussed current mutual relations and
Macedonia's relations with neighboring countries. Andov
pointed to the importance of an increased presence of U.S.
institutions to contribute to a greater development of U.S.-
Macedonian relations and cooperation. In this context, Andov
said, it is necessary to start U.S. economic, cultural and
legal programs in Macedonia.
- Macedonian Minister of Education Emilija Simoska received
Tony Millson British ambassador to Macedonia.
- Noel Campbell, Australian charge d' affairs in Belgrade,
requested a meeting with officials of the Macedonian Foreign
Ministry. He was received by Under-secretary Victor Gaber
and assistant Jordan Veselinov. They discussed mutual
relations.
MACEDONIAN DELEGATION ARRIVES IN SLOVENIA
Government spokesman Gjuner Ismail, accompanied by a
delegation from Macedonian Radio and Television, arrived in
Slovenia yesterday. Ismail was received by Slovenia's
Foreign Minister Zoran Taler, who was particularly
interested in Macedonia's international position and
relations with neighbors. The delegation was received by the
Director of the Slovenian Government Information Service, to
discuss cooperation between the two ministries and exchange
of experience in the field of information.
GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
At its yesterday's session, the Macedonian government
discussed several draft laws on economy, finances and the
political system. The Cabinet decided on premiums for milk
and on subsidies for part of the interest on agriculture
credits. It also decided to sell 35,000 tons of corn
reserves and accepted the proposed program for sale of state
offices in the first quarter of the year. The government was
informed on the cross-border bus traffic with Yugoslavia
following its decision to introduce a fee of 200 German
Marks for Yugoslav buses entering Macedonia. Upon a request
by Serbia to have the taxes mutually abolished, the cabinet
decided to put the decision out of effect as long as the
Yugoslav side respects the agreement.
PARLIAMENT SESSION
At 10 a.m. today, the Macedonian Parliament will hold its
10th session. The agenda includes debates on draft laws for
internal affairs, the intelligence agency, laws on personal
identification documentation, birth registration and public
gatherings.
NDP ATTACKS GOVERNMENT'S IDENTIFICATION POLICY
Mersel Biljali, coordinator of the NDP parliamentary group,
stated his party's reasons for disagreeing with the
government's draft laws on personal identification. Also the
NDP claims the government is restrictively interpreting
article 7 of the constitution which allows for only
Macedonian to be used in central government communication.
The same article also allows use of the minority languages
at a local level. Such an interpretation, the NDP says,
surely has no good intentions. The party says all locally
based administrative units, whether they are local
government offices or locally based central government
offices, should respect the bilingual (multilingual)
principle. The central offices are not now functioning on a
bulingual principle. Several international conventions and
documents regarding individual and collective rights oblige
Macedonia to such an interpretation of the constitution. Any
other interpretation is contrary to these conventions.
Parliament vice-president Abdurahman Aliti says the PDP
views as negative the government's attitude towards the
Albanian language and its constitutional position. The
Macedonian government, Aliti said, is changing its policy
toward ethnic Albanians, and Albanians will consequently
have to change their own policy. The PDP insists on
discussing the constitutional status of the Albanian
language instead of marginal issues. Unfortunately, he said,
no such talks have been initiated.
NDP INTENSIFIES ACTIVITIES TO ESTABLISH UNIVERSITY
Makpress reports the Tetovo branch of the NDP is
intensifying its activities aimed at full establishment of
the Albanian-language university in Tetovo. NDP secretary
Ibraimi said the party will do all it can to legalize the
institution within the state educational system. The
government urgently needs to establish higher education
regulations, he said. Otherwise, the NDP parliamentary group
will propose a law on higher education.
MACEDONIANS EXEMPT FROM BULGARIAN ROAD TAXES
The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport's decision to triple
entry taxes for foreign vehicles will not affect Macedonian
vehicles, as the two countries have an agreement for
eliminating mutual entry taxes.
ARCHEOLOGICAL MAP OF MACEDONIA PROMOTED
The Macedonian Academy of Science and Arts yesterday
promoted the first volume of "The Archeological Map of
Macedonia", prepared by the Academy and the Archeological
Museum of Macedonia. It consists of 14 texts, starting in
prehistoric times, moving through the classical period, and
up to the conversion of Slavs to Christianity. It also
tackles issues concerning the creation of a material
culture, state institutions, ethnic origin and mutual
influence among peoples in the middle Mediterranean and
middle Europe. The second volume is now ready for printing.
SLOVENIAN DAY OF PRESHERN MARKED IN SKOPJE
The Slovenian national holiday Day of Preshern will be
celebrated by a two-day festival at the Skopje Youth Center.
Jozica Puhar, the Slovenian ambassador to Macedonia, opened
the event, organized in association with the Youth Center,
the Slovenian Association "France Preshern", and the
Slovenian embassy. The first day's program included an
exhibition entitled "Slovenia in Old Graphics" and a
presentation of industrial products. Today, the Slovenian
Youth Theater will perform its own plays.
MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: "WE REFUSED TO BE AN ALIBI FOR
THE ALLIANCE FOR MACEDONIA"
(Nova Makedonija, 8 February, 1995)
VMRO-DPMNE pompously announced its withdrawal from the
second round of last October's election race, explaining it
"will not be a part of the dishonest game imposed by the
parties of the Alliance for Macedonia." The media
interpreted this as betrayal of their voters, who ended up
without their own representative at parliament. Yet, three
and a half months after the elections VMRO-DPMNE still
maintains that the party did the right thing and that the
state must suffer the consequences of the party's absence in
all spheres of life. To feel the effects of the VMRO absence
will take time, but VMRO-DPMNE is willing to sacrifice time
for higher purposes. Does this mean the party is now weaker,
or has it only changed its tactics? We will have to wait and
see. The following interview with Dosta Dimovska, vice-
president of VMRO-DPMNE, provides an insight into present
VMRO thinking:
Question: Was the idea to boycott the elections a mistake,
since your party had a realistic chance to win about 10
seats in parliament?
Dimovska: The boycott by our party and the rest of the
opposition parties was a historical move, a contribution to
the democratization of the fatherland. The fact that half a
million people, freed from any fear, went out in the streets
and took part in the parallel voting as a sign of protest,
is a loud and clear "No!" to the government's thwarting of
the election at highest state levels. The boycott meant
standing up against a parliament structure planned in
advance. The police minister and some other government
newspapers claimed the number of "extremists" and
"nationalists" in the parliament must not be higher than 10
per cent of the total number of members. By deciding to
boycott the elections, VMRO-DPMNE and the other opposition
parties destroyed the intention of the ruling parties to
carry out the second part of the referendum, speaking of "a
right to enter into associations with other republics"... an
intention which is quite clear, if one follows and analyzes
their political steps and contacts. The government intended
to keep small the number of opposition representatives in
parliament so it could include Macedonia into Yugoslavia and
conclude agreements with Greece on changing the name and
flag.
Question: Yet, despite such a standpoint, VMRO-DPMNE will
still take part in local elections. Why is that?
Dimovska: Provided that the necessary regulations are
adopted and electoral commissions are not allowed to
fabricate the local elections, it is quite possible that
VMRO-DPMNE will participate in these elections.
Question: Rumors are the party leadership is undergoing
replacements and purges. Any truth in that?
Dimovska: I have never read a single word in your paper a
single about the SDSM vice-president retiring from the
position and that there are serious inner differences in
that party. Yet, when only one member of VMRO-DPMNE leaves
the party, you could hardly wait to make it a cover story.
There are no quarrels or purges within our party. Had there
been, I am sure your paper would have been the first to
write about it, if not an entire series of articles.
Question: Do you think it is a wise choice to stay out of
the state institutions?
Dimovska: The parties of the Alliance for Macedonia which
prepared the elections stopped at nothing in their struggle
for power, drastically violating the citizens' right to
freedom of choice, as well as the Law on Electing the
President, Law on Electoral Units and Law on Election of
Parliamentary Deputies. VMRO-DPMNE refuses to be a
decoration in an illegal parliament or to be an alibi for
the Alliance for Macedonia in its negotiations and deals
with the PDP, all designed to prove to the world that this
dictatorship is a democracy.
Question: What are your arguments proving that the current
government is illegal?
Dimovska: No government can be legal if half of the
electoral body in the country has no representative in
parliament and if that government has been elected through
violations of the law, forgeries and criminal acts. VMRO-
DPMNE issued a Declaration on the Presidential and
Parliamentary Elections and presented it to the domestic and
international public. The Declaration states that the
election results are a sheer fabrication organized by the
government and cannot be a basis for constituting a legal
government which is supposed to present the interests of the
nation. Therefore, all agreements of fundamental and
strategic national interest concluded by this illegal
government will not be valid. This view of ours has been
twisted by the media and described as aimed against the
state. But a communist regime cannot be identified with the
state.
Question: Your party promised to reveal full documentation
to prove the alleged thwarting. Whatever happened with this?
Dimovska: The analysis of the manipulation supported by
evidence has been submitted to all international
organizations engaged in protection of human rights and
liberties. During the election, the Law on Electoral Lists
was drastically violated: lists were not posted up eight
days before the elections, as required by Law. Minister
Tushe Goshev publicly stated the total number of voters who
participated in the elections. Then the State Electoral
Commission came up with different figures, only to present a
third figure several hours later. There was a difference of
some 10,000 voters in their statements. Besides, over 10 per
cent of citizens who voted had not been included in the
electoral lists, so that double electoral lists were in the
game.
Question: Your party is almost completely absent in the
post-election period. Have you given up the political
struggle or are you awaiting something else?
Dimovska: It is ridiculous to claim that a party of the
scope and power of VMRO-DPMNE has given up its political
struggle. If the government desired an opposition which
would serve only as a decoration in or out of parliament,
and only to amortize its bargaining with the Albanians in
Macedonia or to buy out social stability through continuous
production of a fear of war, we will not help its wish come
true. This is only a change in the tactics of our political
action. As for the government, its wisest step was to move
into the building of the old Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Macedonia, thus symbolically and
politically showing its true identity. Macedonian Television
stopped broadcasting parliament sessions, in order to avoid
the shame of presenting the work of the essentially one-
party parliament. Frchkovski went so far in his repressive
measures that he started questioning the autonomy of the
Macedonian university. He and certain other members of the
government put pressure on and threatened professors at the
Pedagogical Academy in Skopje to implement the
unconstitutional decision to have courses at the Academy
completely in the Albanian language. This will be a gradual
establishment of an Albanian-language university in Skopje.
The policy of the Alliance for Macedonia more and more
obviously leads towards the federalization of Macedonia and
turning the country into a new Bosnia. The illegal cabinet
of Crvenkovski is taking Macedonia more deeply towards an
economic disaster characterized by a drastic decline of
production, an absence of investments, an domination of the
black market and higher taxes. Privatization is continuing
through a massive theft of state capital and the employed
are thrown out in the streets without any social protection.
Question: What are the party plans fro the future?
Dimovska: At the moment, the party is occupied with analyses
of the previous activity and its mistakes. We are
considering the necessary changes of tactics and
preparations for the coming regular party congress, expected
to reinvigorate our political platform and structure. At the
same time, we will intensify our international activity and
contacts.
Question: Will not this international activity be taking
place at the cost of neglecting the domestic media? Your
party seems to be doing all it can to make it hard for the
media to contact VMRO-DPMNE.
Dimovska: This is so because there is only one truly
independent weekly magazine in Macedonia and all other media
are government-controlled. No daily newspaper is independent
and there is no freedom of the press, a basic condition for
the functioning of a democracy. Almost all media either have
been or are attacking VMRO-DPMNE and launching
misinformation about it, pushing it to the margins of
political life, hence the mistrust. Shortly an information
darkness will fall upon Macedonia.
Question: Finally, let me ask you about your party's
relations with the Democratic Party. Your offer for a
coalition prior to the elections was not accepted by the
Democrats. What is new in this field?
Dimovska: It is our view that before the elections the
Democratic Party was not organized enough to enter into such
a coalition with us. True, we did offer them a coalition and
were turned down, which only strengthened the position of
Gligorov and the Alliance. I can only add that we have been
more closely cooperating after the election.