Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

used to imagine my future here,
among these people, who know how
to love and be happy.
The only reason why I chose this
profession was my love of children. I
want to devote my whole being to
them and their education, because
there is nothing more pure than a
child's soul, and nothing more sincere
than a child's heart. They are clay in
the hands of parents and teachers.
They are everything I love, and all I
wanted was to show them the right
way and give answers to all their
naive questions. I graduated, but I
have still not managed to find a job, at
least not the kind of job I would like,
and the kind I was educated for.
In the meantime, I have devoted
all my love to my family, especially to
my three year old son and his education.
But as time goes by there are
more and more questions to which I
cannot find any answers. "Mommy,
why is this man talking to himself?
Why are those women on TV crying?
Why are they carrying a picture of a
soldier?"
How can I explain to him why he can't
go to school, or somewhere on holiday
with his friends? All this would not have
been so tragic if only one man had spoken
to himself, if only one mother had cried
and only one soldier had been buried.
When I used to think about my
future, I always imagined it here, in
this country and among these people.
When a close friend of mine went with
her parents to Canada a couple of
years ago I felt sorry for her. I could
not understand her. I could not imagine
my life far away from my family
and friends, from my neighbourhood.
There was no reason good enough to
make me leave. I just wanted my place
in this country, my chance. Today my
friend is a lawyer. She works in a
renowned company in Canada where
she has her own house, drives her own
car and makes plans about her future
and the future of her daughter. I have
been waiting for a job for three years,
and observing the situation in the
country I live in constant fear for my
family's future, about my son's tomorrow.
People usually say: "We should
be patient, and have faith." But I keep
asking: "Patient till when?" and "Faith
in whom?"
I believe in the future of this country
and the wisdom of this people. I
hope that we will soon find a way out
of this dead-end street and start to live
and think like Europeans. This people
and this country deserves it. If it does
not happen, I hope I will have an
opportunity to find my chance in another
place, in another country. But-I must
say this again-I hope that I will not
have to do it. Because, as old people
say, nobody wants to pull up his roots.
Nowhere is the sun so warm and bright.
Nowhere are people so full of love.
Dear God, please help Macedonia.
(The author is a pedagogue)
Politicians are thinking about
the crisis and possible solutions
59
Branko Gjorgjevski
Xhelal Neziri
After several months of participation
in the government of political
unity, SDSM decided to return to the
opposition. Their most serious political
rival, VMRO-DPMNE, called this
move a "desertion in the most difficult
moment for Macedonia." The leader
of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski,
offered the following explanation as to
why their party left the Government,
conclusions they drew from the war,
and their perspective:
"It is true that the security situation
has not been completely brought back
to earlier levels and neither are consequences
of the war resolved. Incidents
and problems with the return of security
forces should be expected in the
future. However, the political framework
has been set and the government
should follow it. From our perspective,
we do not want to be an alibi for
Ljubcho Georgievski's disastrous politics
any longer because it is a politics
marked by corruption, stealing, personal
profit, and partiality… That
kind of politics brought Macedonia
into this situation and we want to
defeat it," says Crvenkovski.
BRIDGES FOR COEXIS-
TENCE HAVE STILL
BEEN PRESERVED
According to Crvenkovski, the
greatest success is that Macedonia has
escaped general interethnic war,
which could have caused a division of
the country.
"We have managed to escape
interethnic war and division of the territory,
the idea of exchange of people
and territories has been defeated, a
political solution
has been
found, the
support of the
international community has been
gained and interethnic confidence is
being restored," Crvenkovski emphasized.
"The bridges for coexistence
have been preserved. But it is necessary
to make them stronger."
"This war did not start because
someone wanted more Albanians to
become policemen or students,"
Crvenkovski continued. "The war
began with people who wanted to put
forward the idea of territorial division
and so they set up conditions for
secession. Instead of constantly
accusing members of the other side,
the other ethnic group, and the other
religion, someone from the Albanian
political corpus should condemn
Albanian nationalism and chauvinism,
Return of peace, December 2001