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Skopje | 02 July 2010 | By Sinisa Jakov Marusic and Andreas Bachmann
The vice-president of Macedonia’s opposition Social Democrats tells Balkan Insight the party is ready to do battle against Nikola Gruevski’s government, which has led the country into a dead-end.
Q: On Sunday you held big rally in front of the government building. Why did it take so long for the Social Democrats to take action?
Around 50,000 people were at the rally, despite all the pressures coming from the governing party and from the police, on people, companies and businessmen. It’s a huge success for the opposition to get such a huge crowd in front of the government HQ.
Why now? Because we witnessed a fiasco for Macedonia at the EU summit two weeks ago. We saw the VMRO DPMNE rally [marking their 20th anniversary on June 15] and the speech of the Prime Minister [Nikola Gruevski], which was very anti-European and anti-NATO. It felt like Macedonia was reaching a dead end, a complete blockade, and we felt that there was a huge pool of people who are against this government, as was seen at the rally on Sunday.
This government has shown over the past years that they have been manipulating the sentiments of ethnic Macedonians on the ‘name’ issue [with Greece], and with their very tough stance towards [Macedonia’s ethnic minority of] Albanians. Basically these are the only two remaining cards the government can play with, since they have achieved very poor results in the economy, the health system and so on.
Q: What do you mean when you talk about government pressure?
Wherever you go in Macedonia, the predominant sentiment among people is fear. For example, when we were filling our busses for the rally, a person from the governing party was in front of one of the buses, writing down the names of the people who got on. This is a huge form of pressure on people because they all know each other. They know that they can be fired if they have a local authority job and if the mayor is from the governing party. They [the government] can apply many other types of pressure, such as threatening phone calls, where they say: ‘Listen, we know you were at the rally. Watch out, your sister or daughter is working for this or that company!’ This government also has a huge record in fining people and smaller businesses; they’re filling the budget with these activities.
Our main job for the time being, as an opposition, is to encourage those people that actually would like to come out or to say something to the government, who would like to come to the rally but were afraid to do so. This was one of the main goals of our rally. We believe that there is a huge number of these people who are depressed and in fear. The opinion polls show that at least 40 to 50 percent of the people are not decided or want to say who they are going to vote for in the next election.
The manipulation and propaganda of the government has been very successful. They have spent millions and millions of euros on propaganda in the media. Our task is to make people understand that behind the government’s rose-coloured picture of reality is a shambles. If you take all the indicators, economic, social, health, you will see that this country is going down.
Q: When it comes to the ‘name’ dispute with Greece, what are your ‘red lines’?
They are the same red lines that virtually every ethnic Macedonian would have, which is that if we find a solution with Greece, it must not jeopardize our national identity and our language, which is Macedonian. This is not our red line; it’s a line no politician or citizen could cross. I believe it is pretty much clear to the Greek side that it’s unimaginable to cross that line.
If you see the whole dispute in terms of who is right and who is wrong, it is obvious that Greece does not have a constructive approach towards this question and towards Macedonia. It’s humiliating for us as citizens of Macedonia [as]… you will see that it is Macedonia that wants to join EU and NATO [and] Greece obviously does not care about that. Therefore, it’s in our interest to search for some kind of solution that will unblock our EU and NATO integration. This is the highest priority for us in terms of economy, social stability, security and in terms of preserving good inter-ethnic relations.
Q: In 2001 Macedonia was close to a civil war. Is there a danger of a new ethnic conflict, since the Albanians are demanding progress over EU in NATO integration?
I believe there is no such danger. Macedonia is pretty much on track regarding EU and NATO integration. We have continuously received good signals from the international community. We also have an Albanian party in the government, which is very stable and rational. They are the corner-stone of this government because besides all the stupid things that this government is doing, and all these dangerous cards they are playing, like anti-Albanianism, the ruling Albanian party is pursuing very rational and constructive policies. I believe that they will maintain their course.
Q: How can you force early elections when you can count on the support of only 30 legislators in the 120-seat parliament?
One should look at the signals coming from the Albanian party in the government, the DUI. They said openly after the NATO summit that if there is no [progress on] integration into the EU and NATO they will seriously reconsider their presence in the government. We have said publicly that after the [November] NATO summit, if we don’t make progress towards NATO integration, objectively a situation will be created that demands early elections.
If the DUI leaves the government in November, if there is no progress on the name issue, if there is no progress on EU and NATO integration, we will immediately have a political crisis, because in Macedonia you cannot have a government without an Albanian party for reasons of political stability. Thus, a situation would be created requiring early elections. The Prime Minister could try to block these initiatives but it will be a very dangerous political situation for him. Without an Albanian party in the government, with the economy stalled, with political crisis that could lead to complete blockade of EU and NATO integration there is no other solution than early elections.
Q: What about polls showing little support for your party?
I am pretty confident in an election victory because our opinion polls show that the gap between the government party and the opposition is something around 19 per cent [for the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party] to 12 per cent [for the Social Democrats]. This is a good number for us because there is a huge pool of undecided voters.
In the next couple of months the opposition will show its teeth in the sense of offering solutions, strengthening the opposition front, building a big front made up not only of political parties but also of various social groups and NGOs. This is a battle against a regime. It’s not a normal political battle where one party goes against the other. It is a matter of getting everyone aboard in order to topple this government.
Q: The party leader, Crvenkovski, said he was returning to help reorganize and strengthen the party. After that, will he resign?
The only plan that we have now is to strengthen our party base and to mobilize as many people as possible and win the next elections.
They are blowing smoke what are their chances of succeeding? their idea of siding with the Albanians in parliment is this just a strategic political move are they 2 birds in a feather?
This Q/A amused me
Q: When it comes to the ‘name’ dispute with Greece, what are your ‘red lines’?
They are the same red lines that virtually every ethnic Macedonian would have, which is that if we find a solution with Greece, it must not jeopardize our national identity and our language, which is Macedonian. This is not our red line; it’s a line no politician or citizen could cross. I believe it is pretty much clear to the Greek side that it’s unimaginable to cross that line.f you see the whole dispute in terms of who is right and who is wrong, it is obvious that Greece does not have a constructive approach towards this question and towards Macedonia. It’s humiliating for us as citizens of Macedonia [as]… you will see that it is Macedonia that wants to join EU and NATO [and] Greece obviously does not care about that. Therefore, it’s in our interest to search for some kind of solution that will unblock our EU and NATO integration. This is the highest priority for us in terms of economy, social stability, security and in terms of preserving good inter-ethnic relations.
Isn;t this the exact same thing Gruevski is trying to implement....but in their case they would bow down to Greece's first offering and go with it probaly.
I hope they loose
The vice-president of Macedonia’s opposition Social Democrats tells Balkan Insight the party is ready to do battle against Nikola Gruevski’s government, which has led the country into a dead-end.
Q: On Sunday you held big rally in front of the government building. Why did it take so long for the Social Democrats to take action?
Around 50,000 people were at the rally, despite all the pressures coming from the governing party and from the police, on people, companies and businessmen. It’s a huge success for the opposition to get such a huge crowd in front of the government HQ.
Why now? Because we witnessed a fiasco for Macedonia at the EU summit two weeks ago. We saw the VMRO DPMNE rally [marking their 20th anniversary on June 15] and the speech of the Prime Minister [Nikola Gruevski], which was very anti-European and anti-NATO. It felt like Macedonia was reaching a dead end, a complete blockade, and we felt that there was a huge pool of people who are against this government, as was seen at the rally on Sunday.
This government has shown over the past years that they have been manipulating the sentiments of ethnic Macedonians on the ‘name’ issue [with Greece], and with their very tough stance towards [Macedonia’s ethnic minority of] Albanians. Basically these are the only two remaining cards the government can play with, since they have achieved very poor results in the economy, the health system and so on.
Q: What do you mean when you talk about government pressure?
Wherever you go in Macedonia, the predominant sentiment among people is fear. For example, when we were filling our busses for the rally, a person from the governing party was in front of one of the buses, writing down the names of the people who got on. This is a huge form of pressure on people because they all know each other. They know that they can be fired if they have a local authority job and if the mayor is from the governing party. They [the government] can apply many other types of pressure, such as threatening phone calls, where they say: ‘Listen, we know you were at the rally. Watch out, your sister or daughter is working for this or that company!’ This government also has a huge record in fining people and smaller businesses; they’re filling the budget with these activities.
Our main job for the time being, as an opposition, is to encourage those people that actually would like to come out or to say something to the government, who would like to come to the rally but were afraid to do so. This was one of the main goals of our rally. We believe that there is a huge number of these people who are depressed and in fear. The opinion polls show that at least 40 to 50 percent of the people are not decided or want to say who they are going to vote for in the next election.
The manipulation and propaganda of the government has been very successful. They have spent millions and millions of euros on propaganda in the media. Our task is to make people understand that behind the government’s rose-coloured picture of reality is a shambles. If you take all the indicators, economic, social, health, you will see that this country is going down.
Q: When it comes to the ‘name’ dispute with Greece, what are your ‘red lines’?
They are the same red lines that virtually every ethnic Macedonian would have, which is that if we find a solution with Greece, it must not jeopardize our national identity and our language, which is Macedonian. This is not our red line; it’s a line no politician or citizen could cross. I believe it is pretty much clear to the Greek side that it’s unimaginable to cross that line.
If you see the whole dispute in terms of who is right and who is wrong, it is obvious that Greece does not have a constructive approach towards this question and towards Macedonia. It’s humiliating for us as citizens of Macedonia [as]… you will see that it is Macedonia that wants to join EU and NATO [and] Greece obviously does not care about that. Therefore, it’s in our interest to search for some kind of solution that will unblock our EU and NATO integration. This is the highest priority for us in terms of economy, social stability, security and in terms of preserving good inter-ethnic relations.
Q: In 2001 Macedonia was close to a civil war. Is there a danger of a new ethnic conflict, since the Albanians are demanding progress over EU in NATO integration?
I believe there is no such danger. Macedonia is pretty much on track regarding EU and NATO integration. We have continuously received good signals from the international community. We also have an Albanian party in the government, which is very stable and rational. They are the corner-stone of this government because besides all the stupid things that this government is doing, and all these dangerous cards they are playing, like anti-Albanianism, the ruling Albanian party is pursuing very rational and constructive policies. I believe that they will maintain their course.
Q: How can you force early elections when you can count on the support of only 30 legislators in the 120-seat parliament?
One should look at the signals coming from the Albanian party in the government, the DUI. They said openly after the NATO summit that if there is no [progress on] integration into the EU and NATO they will seriously reconsider their presence in the government. We have said publicly that after the [November] NATO summit, if we don’t make progress towards NATO integration, objectively a situation will be created that demands early elections.
If the DUI leaves the government in November, if there is no progress on the name issue, if there is no progress on EU and NATO integration, we will immediately have a political crisis, because in Macedonia you cannot have a government without an Albanian party for reasons of political stability. Thus, a situation would be created requiring early elections. The Prime Minister could try to block these initiatives but it will be a very dangerous political situation for him. Without an Albanian party in the government, with the economy stalled, with political crisis that could lead to complete blockade of EU and NATO integration there is no other solution than early elections.
Q: What about polls showing little support for your party?
I am pretty confident in an election victory because our opinion polls show that the gap between the government party and the opposition is something around 19 per cent [for the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party] to 12 per cent [for the Social Democrats]. This is a good number for us because there is a huge pool of undecided voters.
In the next couple of months the opposition will show its teeth in the sense of offering solutions, strengthening the opposition front, building a big front made up not only of political parties but also of various social groups and NGOs. This is a battle against a regime. It’s not a normal political battle where one party goes against the other. It is a matter of getting everyone aboard in order to topple this government.
Q: The party leader, Crvenkovski, said he was returning to help reorganize and strengthen the party. After that, will he resign?
The only plan that we have now is to strengthen our party base and to mobilize as many people as possible and win the next elections.
They are blowing smoke what are their chances of succeeding? their idea of siding with the Albanians in parliment is this just a strategic political move are they 2 birds in a feather?
This Q/A amused me
Q: When it comes to the ‘name’ dispute with Greece, what are your ‘red lines’?
They are the same red lines that virtually every ethnic Macedonian would have, which is that if we find a solution with Greece, it must not jeopardize our national identity and our language, which is Macedonian. This is not our red line; it’s a line no politician or citizen could cross. I believe it is pretty much clear to the Greek side that it’s unimaginable to cross that line.f you see the whole dispute in terms of who is right and who is wrong, it is obvious that Greece does not have a constructive approach towards this question and towards Macedonia. It’s humiliating for us as citizens of Macedonia [as]… you will see that it is Macedonia that wants to join EU and NATO [and] Greece obviously does not care about that. Therefore, it’s in our interest to search for some kind of solution that will unblock our EU and NATO integration. This is the highest priority for us in terms of economy, social stability, security and in terms of preserving good inter-ethnic relations.
Isn;t this the exact same thing Gruevski is trying to implement....but in their case they would bow down to Greece's first offering and go with it probaly.
I hope they loose
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