Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

Seething secondary schools
Little Ljubchos, Brankos,
and Ahmetis waved flags
Cvetin Chilimanov
The October
protests in Skopje
took place after a
dirty war, when
everyone's passions
had been heated to
a boiling point; and
we all lived through
an election campaign
that started
with killings of
police officers and
hostage dramas
Macedonian high school
students have been divided for
more than a year. They cite legal
procedures as the official reasons
for that rift-both unions of
high school students claim that
they represent all students, and
that they possess court decisions
to support that claim. But since
the rift, and especially with the
events that have erupted recently,
it becomes
clearer that the
genuine reasons
for the rift are
the political
interests and
patronages
which have entered
the unions`
management.
To the
already traditional
rift between
VMRO-
DPMNE and
SDSM, which
has been reflected
in the unions,
a new rift has
been added this year:
Macedonians and Albanians.
The third union of high school
students, Lehtisimi ("Relief"),
does not even strive to represent
all students. Its leader,
Faton Kruezi, points out that it
is a union of Albanian students
exclusively. The students cannot
benefit from such a rift,
which can be clearly seen from
the fights and nocturnal clashes
which have, unfortunately,
become a part of their daily
existence.
It is a good thing that the
unions take a critical attitude
towards the government.
However, they do not do it
because that position is in the
students` interest , but because
it is in the interest of the predetermined
policy of the political
option of that union.
"Jovana Bazerkovska`s
Union of High School Students
consists of her and two other
students who participate
because of their individual
interests," says Aleksandar
Nikolovski, who is, if we are to
be honest, a first-year student
of political science at the
Faculty of Law himself.
"Behind Aleksandar
Nikolovski`s High School
Students` Union lie political
interests," replies Bazerkovska
who, however, does not want to
identify the political option
behind Nikolovski.
Nevertheless, there is a
record of her accusations that
Nikolovski is the leader of a
union formed with former
Minister Novkovski`s blessing,
and on his request, so that he
can allegedly control his area
of responsibility more easily.
Bazerkovska is constantly
complaining that while
Novkovski was minister of
education, the Ministry`s doors
were closed to her union.
However, Nikolovski claims
that Novkovski has not contacted
him either, although the
minister jumped to protect the
student leader after the
announcement from his rivals
from the coalition "For
Macedonia"--Risto Penov and
Trifun Kostovski--that they
were going to bring charges
against the union's leader for
the protests he had organized.
Novkovksi appraised the
announcements of a law suit
against Nikolovski as "a monstrous
attack" and asked the
state attorney to deal with
Penov i Kostovski.
Bazerkovska, on the other
hand, supported Penov's
charges against Nikolovski,
and announced that she was
going to bring charges against
Nikolovski herself. All in all, a
students' rift was created in
which it is obvious who stands
on whose side. Still, it all
becomes clearer when we see
where the bombarding with
paragraphs and accusations is
directed.
At the beginning of this
year we had a situation when
the Union of High School
Students of Macedonia, led by
Jovana Bazerkovska (publicly
accused for her closeness with
the Social Democratic Party of
Macedonia and the Liberal
Democratic Party) severely
condemned the violence
towards the students of a high
school in Negotino. This union
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A new beginning, November 2002