Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

the hardest in the post-socialist period
in Macedonia. The IMF and the
Macedonian government did not agree
on an arrangement and we are well on
our way to losing our arrangements
with the World Bank. The reforms have
stopped, and the government is spending
a lot of many to pay the administration
and the pensioners in order to gain
their votes for the upcoming elections
on September 15th.
Besides the "wounds" from the war
and vague political instability, the following
parliamentary elections will also
have a negative impact on development.
The restoration of lost trust among
Macedonian customers and investors
will be of a great importance for the
country in 2002. That will be hard to perform,
because people will save their new
Euros to spend them in "better days".
Foreign investors will "flee"
Macedonia, except maybe those from
Greece, who are not afraid of the instable
working circumstances in
Macedonia.
For a long time it was claimed that
the war was the main reason for the
worsened circumstances in the textile
industry - which is not entirely accurate.
Now, it is obvious that the recession
movement in the World market, the
interrupted reforms, as well as the state
of our economy, will continue to present
a big obstacle to the awakening of
the investment cycle and the provision
of new employment opportunities.
(The author is editor in cheef
of the weekly „ Kapital“)
An essay on the stone bridge
92
Danilo Kocevski
The Stone Bridge on the
river Vardar in Skopje conceals its
origin like a real wise man: it does not
reveal it; so that nobody can call it its
own and attribute it to himself?
Beauty belongs to everybody. The
Stone Bridge belongs to all the citizens
of this city, irrespective of who
built it or finished it : Justinian, Murat
the Second, Mehmed the Second,
Huma Shah Sultan, Czar Dushan; or
according to the legends, even King
Marko! The various stories around its
building are known among the people
as "tavatura". Such beauty cannot
remain without legends, without
numerous stories that excite the spirits:
everybody wants to approach
beauty, to touch it, to feel its power
and magic.
Plus, the beauty and the grandeur
of the Stone Bridge are unique.
Each city has a genetic code, and
the genetic code of Skopje is the
Stone Bridge.
Famous revolutionaries met on
the Stone Bridge, new acquaintances
and loves were born; however, rebels
were executed on the same bridge
too. Life and death intermingled.
They became one, as the eternal
waters of Vardar flowing underneath.
In order to give your life a timeless
dimension, you must touch eternity:
take a picture on the Bridge,
under the arcs or the shores and
quays: in the background stand the
officer's residence, People's Bank,
The Fortress, the Bazaar…
Life should not only be made eternal,
it should be challenged and, at
times, defied: during the summer
heat, jump in the river, be a bird and a
fish at the same time, be a local hero
who is pointed at afterwards.
Bridges connect, they never
divide. Therefore, evil people, in evil
times, ruined the bridges first. But the
bridges can never be destroyed.
Since, as much as they are material
and physical, they
are deep within
us. They are a part
of man and
humanity, and
they cannot be
destroyed.
No bridge
leads in one direction.
Bridges connect,
they never
separate. A bridge
with a ruined part
leads nowhere.
Thus, the bridge
loses meaning; but, those living in its
vicinity have no meaning either.
Shores looking onto themselves have
lost their meaning too.
The Bridge always leads to the
other, the opposite side - the different.
Yet, the Other and the Opposite are
but ourselves. Unity of differences.
Linking directions, space, spiritual
wealth - without this fundamental
philosophy bridges would not exist.
Whichever direction you take, wherever
you step on the Bridge, you certainly
go to the Other, as to yourselves.
The two shores become one: a
bridge. And the bridge holds itself out
to the shores: difference.
Since ancient times, the Stone
Elections for peace, July 2002