Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

18
Albanian political party.
Albanians in Macedonia welcomed
the platform with great
enthusiasm, aspiring to full
equality in all areas of life with
Macedonians and with other
ethnic groups in Macedonia.
Regretfully, the Macedonian
parties, led by the then VMRO-
DPMNE (which has been
extensively refined), trod upon
that transparency.
Nevertheless, the first multiparty
Parliament of the
Republic of Macedonia ensued
from the party pluralism in the
first parliamentary elections.
PDP, in coalition with NDP,
came out of the elections as a
third party, based on the number
of deputies. This multiparty
parliament in fact was a synonym
for the beginning of
democracy and the end of the
single-party system. It should
be emphasized that at that time
Macedonia was establishing
itself as independent from the
Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (SFRY).
These events surrounding
the pluralistic activities were
most difficult for the PDP-NDP
parliamentary group, since in
the creation of the new state the
group was preoccupied with the
future status of Albanians in
Macedonia. This parliamentarian
group submitted the
"Declaration for an Equal
Status of Albanians in
Macedonia" to the President of
the state and to the Prime
Minister of the expert government.
As is known, this declaration
was rejected, causing
indignation among Albanians,
who later did not respond to the
referendum on the independence
of Macedonia.
Simultaneously, the delegation
did not vote for the
Constitution, the results of the
census were not accepted, etc.
Albanians' disappointment was
also reflected in the subsequent
activities of PDP-other options
for problem-solving started
appearing while institutional
activities weakened. In a word,
Albanians' enthusiasm that the
multiparty system in an atmosphere
of tolerance would solve
the articulated national and
existential issues, started to
decline.
Despite all the dissatisfaction,
PDP with its parliamentary
group and in consultation
with the international community
was not set on unrest and
interethnic conflict, but continued
courageously and wisely its
institutional activities aimed at
step-by-step problem-solving.
This position also arose from
the awareness of the delicate
nature of the situation in the
region (the wars in Croatia and
Bosnia and the occupation of
Kosovo). PDP's activity was
monitored by the international
community with approval, but
by some pro-Macedonian political
parties with a degree of
malice. However, within the
part, especially from an
Albanian perspective, this
activity within the state institutions
caused PDP to factionalize,
resulting in the birth of new
political parties, including the
Democratic Party of Albanians
(DPA), the Republican Party
for National Equality (RPNE),
the Albanian Democratic
Alliance-Liberal Party (ADS-
LP) and others.
Anyway, in the political
mosaic that was created in
Macedonia it can not be said
that Albanians did not benefit
from the activities of the PDP
and other political organizations
within the government,
since in that period Albanians
succeeded in becoming a relevant
factor in Macedonia,
which represents one of the key
points in the stability in the
region. At the same time, it
should be accepted that, in fact,
PDP established many political
rules of the game as well as
pluralism throughout this
decade, a path which other
Albanian parties have followed.
This decade of multiparty
activity has taught us that,
despite the challenges, we will
survive and we should find the
path that leads towards Euro-
Atlantic integration, and
towards NATO membership,
for then the difficulties and the
misunderstandings in all segments
of life, especially multiethnic
ones, will be more easily
solved. We also had the assistance
of the standards that are
practiced within the civilized
world, towards which we also
do strive.
The pluralistic decade can
also be summarized by the
assessment that there are a lot
of things that need to be nurtured
in politics, especially during
electoral campaigns.
Political competition should be
accepted as something progressive
which establishes a system
of real values and joint success.
Regretfully, we often feed
frustrations that lead to personal
and political resistance, even
adding in animosity, which during
the last local elections was
manifested in a very harsh and
tragic way. Let us hope that this
will not happen to us again.
(The author is a Member
of Parliament )
Ten years of pluralism, December 2000