Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

What future does the pre-election period promise?
Macedonia will succeed only
if it overpowers the
syndrome of a land-junction
Ljubomir D. Frckoski
In the "Macedonian political
establishment", the content
of the framework agreement is
not as contentious as the frustration
about the manner and
the state of its adoption.
For the majority of
Macedonians it represents a
way of awarding violence; and
model for protection and promotion
of minority rights, for
which Macedonia was considered
to be a unique, successful
example in the Balkans for a
long time.
The second psychological
"dam" for the agreement is
mistrust; the belief that it will
terminate or convert the
aggressive ethno-rhetoric and
nothing can ever be solved
without international mediation.
Has the Ohrid agreement,
which is constantly
being re-interpreted and distorted
so as to elicit new
demands (as well as to question
the part of one signatory
member), put an end to
"Albanian demands"?
The Macedonians encountered
another grave problem:
the limited governing elite at
the present moment, which has
altogether lost orientation for a
coherent democratic and
national policy, and would
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What are the political consequences
of the implementation
of the framework agreement in
post-conflict Macedonia and
how does that reflect on the
pre-electoral constellations
among the political parties?
gives the impression that the
international community
would readily apply double
standards, or verify a "de
facto" state, ignoring their proclaimed
principles. This would
be done, in particular, in light
of emphasizing the successful
military approach of parts of
the Albanian political elite,
which makes use of international
arbitration and intervention,
deliberately bringing
mediation to absurdity, so as to
demonstrate that Macedonia is
a de facto protectorate and that
readily enter scandalous compromises
at the expense of
these "Macedonian fears",
intentionally obstructing the
redeployment of the police in
all previously crisis-affected
regions and, thus, violating the
Ohrid agreement, in the most
Elections for peace, July 2002