|
Final
Solution
on
Decentralisation/Redistricting
in
Macedonia
Reality
Macedonia
(Jul
14,
2004) (By
Irina
Gelevska) -
The
ruling
coalition
in
Macedonia--composed
of
Social
Democratic
Union
of
Macedonia
(SDSM),
Liberal
Democratic
Party
(LDP),
and
the
ethnic
Albanian
party
Democratic
Union
for
Integration
(DUI)--has
been
in
crises
for
over
2
months
now,
because
of
the
last
laws
from
the
Framework
Agreement,
regarding
the
decentralization.
The
Government
paired
territorial
redistricting
with
the
decentralization,
putting
this
issue
in
a
new,
highly
controversial
context.
This
afternoon,
after
the
consultations
in
the
parties,
the
coalition
reached
a
decision
for
the
problematic
city
of
Skopje,
and
the
towns
of
Kichevo
and
Struga.
Kichevo will probably
remain
in
the
present
limits.
Local
sources
claim
that
the
Government
will
respect
the
opinion
of
the
citizens
given
on
the
referendum
4
months
ago.
According
to
A1
TV,
more
options
are
on
the
table
for
this
one,
including
the
one
suggeste
by
Deutche
Velle
radio:
adding
some
Albanian
villages
(but
not
Zajas,
Ahmeti's
birhtplace)
which
would
not
provide
for
Albanian
majority,
but
would
lower
the
percentage
of
Macedonians
bellow
50%.
Struga
municipality
(with
majority
ethnic
Macedonian
population)
will
be
extended
with
the
villages
around
the
town,
where
the
majority
of
the
citizens
are
ethnic
Albanians.
This
would
increase
the
percentage
of
Albanians,
making
this
group
a
majority
in
the
whole
municipality.
The
Albanian
language
will
be
used
as
official
language
in
the
capital
Skopje,
making
it
bilingual.
This
is
to
be
accomplished
by
adding
the
majority-ethnic
Albanian
villages
of
Saraj
and
Kondovo,
which
would
raise
the
percentage
of
Albanians
to
over
20%.
With
this
solution,
the
SDSM
and
LDP
accepted
all
the
requests
from
their
coalition
partner
DUI,
which
threatened
to
quit
the
coalition
if
its
demands
are
not
met.
The
Prime
Minister
Harry
Kostov
was
influenced by
the
President
Branko
Crvenkovski,
who
won
the
presidential
elections
thanks
to
the
DUI-incited
Albanian
voters.
Allegedly,
the
PM
feels
obliged
to
fulfill
the
Albanian
requests
for
ethnically-based
territorial
division
of
Macedonia.
The
EU
High
Representative
for
Security
and
Foreign
policy
Javier
Solana
allegedly
pressured
President
Crvenkovski yesterday,
by
telling
him
not
to
come
to
[an
already
scheduled
visit
to]
Brussels
without
agreement
of
the
laws
for
decentralization.
Citizens
of
Kichevo,
Skopje
and
Struga have
protested with
road
blockades
in
the
last
few
days,
because
they
are
afraid
of
ethnic
persecution
resulting
from
ethic
Albanian
dominance
in
the
local
government.
This
perception
is
fueled
by
widely
circulated
examples
such
as
the
one
from
Debar,
where
a
Macedonian
couple
can
not
marry
in
their
mother
language,
because
the
(ethnic
Albanian)
municipal
officials
refuse
to
speak
Macedonian.
Reality
Macedonia
Partial
Disclaimer:
Individual
authors
retain
the
intellectual
property
of
their
material,
and
hold
the
copyright
on
their
work.
Opinions
expressed
in
the
texts
does
not
reflect
the
opinions
of
the
Reality
Macedonia
team,
except
in
pieces
signed
by
it.
All
other
articles,
especially
the
translations
from
the
Macedonian
media,
reflect
the
personal
opinion
of
the
individual
authors,
or
the
institutionalized
opinion
of
organizations
that
released
the
text(s).
Please
contact
the
copyright
holders
for
reprinting
rights
and
objections.
(Full
Disclaimer
click
here)
|
