Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

The former leader of the NLA founded
a political party - did this have to happen now?
Ahmeti didn’t want to become
a „general without an army“
Daut Dauti
Ali Ahmeti, a leader of a political
party and, on top of everything, with a
residence in Skopje!
Macedonians were taken by surprise
by the new Albanian political
party, lead by the former political
leader of the NLA - Ali Ahmeti. Isn't
this an act of provocation and impudence,
now, when the "wounds of war"
still hurt, and Ali Ahmeti is coming to
be our first neighbor? Did he have to
do this now, and in the capital city of
our country?
That is what Macedonians think
about the "unwanted guest from
Shipkovica". And Albanians have a
completely different feeling about the
whole situation.
We have to get used to these "different"
feelings, because we had different
views on the things that were happening
last year. But, I think the question
should be this: did Ali Ahmeti
choose the right moment to enter political
life, and is he not losing the status
of an "integrating person" among the
Albanians, which he wished for so
long?
The answer is very simple - he had
to. He wasn't left any other choice. He
was even late with this solution.
THIS SHOULD HAVE
HAPPENED IMMEDIATE-
LY AFTER THE SIGNING
OF THE OHRID AGREE-
MENT
The entrance of Ali Ahmeti into
He couldn't have accepted
the role of an "English
queen" - to be a symbol of
unity among Albanians
while letting others have
direct influence
political life was, more or less, expected.
It was only a matter of time and
finding a way of doing it. I was one of
those who thought that he should not
hasten this after the events from last
year, considering the revolting feeling
of the Macedonian public towards
him, as towards the man most responsible
for the war in our country. On the
other side, I considered the transformation
of the NLA into political party
against principle, because it would turn
the gains of war into political aims.
Probably Ali Ahmeti and his colleagues
and other advisers were thinking
the same way. This kind of thinking,
at least according to the flow of
events, has turned out to be the wrong
strategy. It has shown that, after the
actual ending of the war crisis, those
who advised Ahmeti to found a political
party were right.
There were many possibilities for
his engagement in politics. Besides the
founding of his party, the other option
was to join one of the existing ones
(every party would gain from his presence
before the elections in autumn).
Based on these open possibilities, one
of the Albanian parties, the National
Democratic Party of Kastriot
Hadzhiredzha, had a great advantage
because there were some rumors that it
was a party of the NLA and that it was
only a question of time before Ali
Ahmeti became its leader. The popularity
that this party had is only a
reflection of those rumors. But,
Ahmeti chose a different and, eventually,
wrong way.
The former leader of the NLA, following
different advice and suggestions,
some of which were form foreign
factors, decided to wait. In order
to stay in the focus of political events,
he founded the Coordinative Council
of Albanian Political Subjects, from
which he could have gained different
things. He could have become a political
leader of "all Albanians" in
Macedonia; he could have been the
coordinator of all political decisions
for the implementation of the Ohrid
agreement; and, as it was stated by the
leader of DPA in an interview on
Macedonian national TV, with this
Council Ali Ahmeti could have joined
politics in the safest way. It was considered
that this Coordinative body of
an informal character would assure
Ahmeti and his people a strong position
in the institutions as well, followed
by anticipated and very realistic
participation in the elections. But,
Ahmeti was wrong about that too. The
outside "players" have made their
plans for a stronger position, which has
caused a weakening in the Council's
activity; so, eventually, it lost its previous
goal - unity, and the mutual coordination
of Albanian subjects.
Obstacles
A situation like that provoked cer-
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Elections for peace, July 2002