Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

138
is only an introduction of what follows
below, depicting a part of the
current situation.
I often sit by the fountain, in the
heart of the Old Bazaar, under the
shadows of the huge oak tree and the
water that gurgles pleasantly in the
middle of the fountain between the
restaurant tables set all around.
I order a cup of coffee, but coffee
is no good without a cigarette.
My pack is empty. Opposite me a
gentleman sits and smokes the same
brand. As soon as he notices my
problem, he kindly offers me cigarettes,
we exchange a few words and
he invites me to sit at his table.
I take a seat, we talk, and I try to
recognize in him a face that probably
lives near the Bazaar whom I might
have met before.
No, we haven't met before - he
smiles. I am Albanian and I live in
Arachinovo. I find it pleasant here so
I often come.
He tells his story. For years he
has been teaching in the school in
Arachinovo. He is retired now.
Doesn't look like a retiree though, he
looks bold and energetic. We
exchange opinions about the current
situation. We skip nothing. Not even
the most sensitive problem. He is a
pleasant and tolerant talker.
In the course of the conversation
I asked him a question, expecting to
confuse him. It turned out that the
question did not confuse him but he
was rather glad.
"May I visit you at home in
Arachinovo?" I asked. "I have never
been there, except to pass through. I
will afterwards invite you to my
home.
"Why not?" he smiled. "It will
be my pleasure. I will now explain
how we can meet in the best way."
And he started explaining which
bus I should take to arrive in
Arachinovo, provided I don't have a
car. He pointed where exactly the
bus stops in the village. He would
meet me at the bus stop which is not
far away from his house.
And most importantly: he left his
full name, his mobile and his fixed
phone number. I wrote down in my
notebook: I.S, mobile, home number.
After that, events happened, only
a few days after our conversation:
the murder of the Albanian while the
police were trying to arrest him in
the Chento area, then the assault on
the journalists, the blocking of the
police station.
Of course, our meeting was temporarily
delayed. But it wasn't cancelled.
It is because contacts must be
alpha and omega in this region.
Without them everything will fall
down like a tower of cards, and they
can contribute the most to taking
down the masks and bringing back
our confidence.
Tradition should be upgraded and
affirmed time and again and nothing
is a given for ever, especially not in
crisis situations. We said the
Framework Agreement can be
accepted only as progress for everybody,
not as destruction. But we
must clarify what is progress and
what is destruction. If progress is a
setback for one party and destruction
for the others, and if destruction is
progress and promotion for the others,
then we haven't done anything.
And it seems at the moment this is
exactly what is happening to us. We
are still on the dangerous swing
between trust and distrust, under
which a dangerous abyss sprawls.
Tomorrow all peacekeepers will
leave and we will remain with each
other. And with tradition, our noble
one, the one we can rely on which is
a result of the life processes, contradictory,
complex, nonetheless
remains open for new, constructive
movements and affirmations.
Sitting in the Bazaar and sitting
in Arachinovo (with the internally
displaced safely returned) should not
differ. It should be like before. And
that benefit should be renewed again.
All together.
(The author is a publicist
and a journalist)
Two years of the ohrid agreement, August 2003