Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

that peace has not yet settled down the
sites of the fighting," Kralevski said.
He is afraid that a strategy could be
developed to conquer the Macedonian
territory step by step.
"The military activities of the
Albanian terrorists have not stopped.
Rapes, murders and ethnic cleansing
happen continuously. The Albanian
political factor has divided into parts:
one is moderate and cooperative while
the others are radical. Support for the
peace process on the one hand, and
radicalism, as practiced by Kastriot
Haxhirexha's NDP, on the other. They
are not establishing a good basis for
the relaxation of interethnic tensions,
which is the main condition for the
country to function," claims Kralevski.
In such a situation, in his opinion,
the Macedonian political block does
not have much space to act. "It is
good that the Albanian political factor
is included in the government, but the
process of constitutional changes
should be carefully realized. In such a
situation, we should insist that the
international actors put pressure on the
Albanians to state clearly that they
dissociate themselves from the activities
carried out by the remaining terrorist
groups. No one wants open confrontation,"
Kralevski stated.
He thinks that coalitions between
the strongest Albanian and
Macedonian parties should continue.
"We should build an economic and
political life together. The roots of the
crisis are deep and date back to the
time when Yugoslavia, in which
Albanians had certain rights, fell
apart. In the last ten years, some
things were kept hidden in Macedonia
and that is why we are surprised. The
escalation of the crisis could not have
happened in just one or two years. We
did not have the potential to deal with
terrorism alone, and that is why we
will have to rely on the international
factor."
ALBANIANS FELT
DISCRIMINATED
The Republic of Macedonia has
endured constant tension for a long
time because Albanians in this country
felt discriminated against. Their
rights were not fulfilled and they had
to constantly demand their fulfilment.
In order to overcome this conflict
and attempt to solve political problems
in Macedonia, a political agreement
was reached in Ohrid with the
help of the international community.
Representatives of two Albanian political
parties, PDP and DPA, think that
we should not hold onto illusions that
this process will be easily accomplished
and they hope for help from
international actors.
They believe that Macedonian
politicians will understand that it is
necessary to implement the agreement
because, in their opinion, it includes
resolving problems in state institutions
in a manner that will establish equality
and stability in Macedonia.
EVERYONE WILL
PROFIT FROM THOSE
REFORMS
PDP Vice-President Aziz
Polozhani said that an important element
in implementing Agreement is
the constant presence of various international
structures. "Besides the consequences
of a ten-month long
interethnic conflict, Macedonia suffered
because of the lack of democratic
influence. The improvement of this
aspect, along with providing conditions
for the application of international
values in a democratic atmosphere
and structure in this country, remain
an important task even after the implementation
of the Agreement," he said.
Polozhani hopes that Macedonia is
on its way to establishing consensus
about certain values upon which democratic
institutions will be established.
He thinks that Albanians, through
appropriate reconstruction and organization
based not only upon the Ohrid
Agreement but also upon other values,
could become a factor of stability
which would encourage the country's
integration into the Euro-Atlantic
structures.
"That is why, with support from
the international community in the
economic, development, and investment
spheres, we will provide conditions
for our children to live in a country
with greater prosperity and democratic
values."
However, Polozhani claims that
the Ohrid Agreement does not provide
the maximum level of rights, but
implementation will allow for greater
development. "From this perspective,
Albanians must understand that a
large part of their aspirations have
been fulfilled with this agreement, and
that they are one step closer to the values
they have accepted as their own. I
want to say that there are no winners
and losers with the implementation of
the Ohrid Agreement. It will bring real
peace, economic prosperity, and faster
integration with the European Union,"
he emphasized and added that everyone
will profit from those reforms. In
his opinion, the Albanian political parties
that oppose the Agreement are
wrong in labelling some people as
patriots and others as traitors because
"what was agreed upon was done in
accordance with the international
community."
YOU CANNOT HAVE TOO
MANY RIGHTS
Polozhani also stated that those
who say that Albanians have too many
rights are wrong. "Generally speaking,
you cannot have too many rights
but there is a limit. Our rights finish
somewhere and someone else's rights
begin. The implementation of the
Agreement does not limit the rights of
Macedonians and that is a fact. The
feeling that they have lost something
is provoked by their mentality based
upon the discrimination against
Albanians and their view that they
have unfairly lost privileges,"
Polozhani claimed. He added that this
psychological stance will be overcome
once Macedonians see that all
ethnic groups feel this country is
shared in common, which is the main
condition of stability for both
Macedonia and the whole region.
Additionally, Polozhani stated that
Macedonia will receive help from the
international community in every
phase of the Agreement's implementation
in order to restore its economy
and become closer to alignment with
the North Atlantic structures. "The
first step in this direction is the donor's
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Return of peace, December 2001