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Albanians Humble Macedonia’s Ruling Party

30 05 2007  Crisis caused by party’s boycott has exposed the country’s continuing inability to bridge ethnic fault-lines.

By Ana Petruseva in Skopje

Macedonia’s main Albanian opposition party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, ended a five-month boycott of parliament on Wednesday after the ruling party conceded crucial political demands.

The move followed months of bickering that brought the ethnic issue back on the top of the agenda and prompted warnings from Brussels that Macedonia needed to get its house in order if it wanted to join the EU or NATO.

Diplomats said short-term political interests and the government’s lack of strategy had allowed a political crisis to escalate, risking the country’s bid for EU and NATO membership.

The deal, announced in a press statement by the DUI leader Ali Ahmeti and the VMRO-DPMNE Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on Tuesday, said dialogue had ended in a positive result and both sides had agreed to work together on Euro-Atlantic integration.

A senior source involved in the talks told Balkan Insight that the agreement, facilitated by EU and US representatives in the country, contained five points that addressed most DUI demands.

The parties agreed on a list of 46 laws that parliament will vote on according to the so-called Badinter principle.

This means that laws with a significant impact on ethnic minority communities must not be passed in parliament by a simply majority but by a “double” majority – meaning a majority also among political representatives of the minority.

The two sides also agreed to change the make-up of parliament’s committee on ethnic relations and prepare a new law about the work of the same committee.

The deal contains a commitment that work on ways to address the issue of the victims of the 2001 ethnic conflict and prepare a law on languages regulating the use of Albanian.

The last point, crucially, says once the DUI is back in parliament discussions will continue about how the government is elected; the DUI wants the Albanian party holding the most seats to have an automatic right to enter the government.

As talks were unlikely to go anywhere without the heavy behind-the-scenes involvement of international representatives, the EU and US are seen as guarantors for the deal and the final document was accepted by both parties in an English-language version.

A joint press statement by the EU and the US swiftly welcomed the agreement and urged both parties to comply.

However, the deal embarrassed the existing, smaller, Albanian party in government, the Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA. On Saturday, Menduh Taci, DPA vice-president, threatened to leave the coalition though that was later dismissed by the government as a “misunderstanding”.

“The DPA has lost big time with this deal,” journalist Iso Rusi confirmed. “This is a serious blow for them as they will lose credibility before their electorate”.

DUI officials put it more bluntly. “We showed that the opposition can deliver much more than the DPA can, sitting in the government,” a senior DUI official told Balkan Insight. “Now we are no longer interested in joining the government; There is no point.”

Analysts say the crisis with the DUI, which has lasted since VMRO-DPMNE won elections last July and invited the DPA into the cabinet over the DUI – even though the latter won most Albanian votes – shows the government has failed to sideline the crucial ethnic issue.

“The entire energy of this government is focused on economic projects; it seems not interested in ethnic issues and attempts to bypass all problems related to inter-ethnic relations,” Dane Taleski, of the Skopje-based Institute for Democracy, said.

Taleski said the government would “have to learn from this lesson and show more sensitivity to ethnic issues. It must return to a position of having good relations with both Albanian parties.”

The crisis had highlighted Macedonia’s inability to deal with crises on its own, the analyst went on. “There is no capacity to build a strategy. Everything boils down to short-term management,” Taleski observed.

Iso Rusi likewise compared Macedonia to a patient with special needs. “As with any other handicapped person we need someone to take care of us,” he said. “Finally, the Americans have realized that we should join NATO …not because we have done our job but because we can be a problem for the region.”

Rusi continued: “The EU should follow the same recipe. Don’t rely on us, but take care of us so that we don’t get you into bigger regional problems.”

Brussels has become increasingly concerned with developments in Macedonia, warning that it would take more work to merit a starting date for accession negotiations.

Usually subtle diplomatic warnings gave way to blunt expressions of disappointment but still did not have great impact at home.

A Western diplomat told Balkan Insight that EU capitals could not do much for Macedonia when the government had no real strategy or agenda for change.

Apart from the grave problems with the DUI, the relations between the President Branko Crvenkovski and the government are poor, mainly involving mutual attacks, in spite of warning messages from Brussels that cohabitation is a must.

“Macedonia is just not providing the material we can work with,” the diplomat said. “You can forget about negotiations date at this point.”

The political crisis - and DPA threats to leave the government - also prompted talk of possible early elections, seen by analysts and diplomats as a backwards move that could push the country in another stalemate.

Early elections would mean more months of wasteful political debate and further changes in administration; time that Macedonia cannot afford to waste, diplomats say.

However, VMRO-DPMNE may feel tempted by opinion polls that show the party is enjoying a new high of 30-per-cent support.

With the centre-left opposition in disarray, VMRO-DPMNE expects a new election to bring it more seats, bolstering the slim majority it currently enjoys.

But the prospect of elections has set off alarm bells abroad. Such a move at this time would be like jumping off the moving train to EU and NATO, EU ambassador Erwan Fouere recently warned.

“Macedonia needs to move ahead with its reforms as the country faces crucial decisions in terms of membership in EU and NATO,” Fouere said.

European parliament deputy Angelica Beer conveyed a similar message. “My impression is that this is Gruevski`s attempt to secure more power,” she said in an interview with Deutsche Welle Radio in Macedonian language.

“The polls show he would have good support in the event of early election. However I think that calling new elections just to secure a greater majority at this time is a dangerous game,” Beer maintained.

Ana Petruseva is BIRN Macedonia country director. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online publication.