‘Violence Has No Ethnicity’

The unruly elections gave Macedonia’s reputation another serious blow. 3 June 2008
[Early parliamentary elections in Macedonia on 1 June were marred by violence, the death of one person, and the suspension of voting at two dozen polling stations in areas with a large Albanian population. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s monitoring team recorded incidents of violence, intimidation and ballot box stuffing in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas. Nationwide, the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party of incumbent Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski won more than twice as many votes as the second-place Social Democrats and will head the next government. Traditionally, the top vote-getting party has invited one of the two main Albanian parties to join it; the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSh) was a member of Gruevski’s outgoing government.

Writing in the daily Utrinski Vesnik, Manco Mitevski blames the current political disorder largely on the government. In an interview with the Macedonian Information Agency, Gruevski praised the fact that the vast majority of polling stations witnessed no problems on voting day, and suggested that the violence perpetrated by ethnic Albanians will rebound on those who committed it. – TOL]


This commentary by Manco Mitevski ran in Utrinski Vesnik on 2 June.

Given that this text is being written not only before the election results are revealed, but also before the voter turnout is reported – due to the technology of this newspaper – I do not know what political coalition has won. Yet, I certainly know who has lost. In this election – especially in the election campaign – most of the media and journalists have lost, as well as the Macedonian democracy, given the interior minister's thesis that the most democratic act – which is a celebration of democracy in democratic societies – will be secured by a record number of policemen, special forces, and helicopters. Still, the major loser is the Republic of Macedonia and its citizens!

Why are most of the Macedonian media, particularly the television stations, but also some press media, the greatest losers in this election? Because on the orders of their owners, almost all of whom joined the VMRO-DPMNE [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] coalition's list of candidates as party leaders, or because of their servility toward them, they and some of the owners who were not included on the list gave exaggerated support to this coalition along with the public broadcaster. Their excuse for this will be the obtaining of a bigger part of the huge financial cake that the government has given to them. The For a Better Macedonia coalition [led by VMRO-DPMNE] did this rather conspicuously and by stopping at nothing in order to win the desired 61 Assembly seats for them and help [Menduh] Thaci's DPA [Democratic Party of Albanians – PDSh in Albanian] win among the Albanian voters, so that they can jointly rule as they please. As we pointed out, the instant the VMRO-DPMNE's idea of an early election was born, precisely these high and unrealistic goals – especially their motive: an Assembly with the smallest possible opposition – made yesterday's election day [sure to overflow] with violence. The outcome of this is well known: one person was killed and nine injured in the morning.

The government's second bad approach to the organization of the election was its boasting that it would enable a fair and democratic election with a record number of police officers, special forces, and helicopters. As a rule, democracy is not guaranteed by police. On the contrary, democracy is provided by assisting democratic processes and institutions, the functioning of the law-governed state, and the rule of law. If the Interior Ministry had clarified the pre-election armed incidents straight away and had taken the perpetrators to court, the record participation of policemen, special units, and helicopters on the day of the citizens' "free" voting would have been unnecessary. The DUI [Democratic Union for Integration – BDI in Albanian] was on the verge of deciding to quit the election all day long. The shootings, the fear, and the casualties prove that, on the greatest day of democracy, the government "reaped what it had sown!"

[…]

[If For a Better Macedonia and the DPA form a government,] this will imply an equation with many unknown numbers. This is because it is not known what they will do about the country's major issues: NATO and EU accession and the name problem. Moreover, the danger of which Professor Dimitar Dimitrov warned in his Utrinski Vesnik commentary – that the VMRO-DPMNE "has attacked the country's constitutional order and the trinity of the lawmaking, executive, and judicial [branches] with the early election and by copying the party plan of making the Assembly an executive institution, just like the government, and not wasting time on the opposition" – is hanging over their heads.

NO CHEATS IN NEW PARLIAMENT: GRUEVSKI

SKOPJE, 2 June | In general, we have had fair, democratic elections, about 98 percent of [races] witnessed a genuine celebration of democracy. However, irregularities were registered on election day in one or two percent of the [polling stations], according to the State Election Commission. I am sorry about all the incidents and troubles that took place yesterday. Anyone who tried to make trouble yesterday did not care about Macedonia, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski says in an interview with the Macedonian Information Agency (MIA).

I will not allow any MPs to take a parliamentary seat in an illegitimate, non-democratic manner by stuffing ballot boxes in comparison to those who have won their mandates by fighting with programs and elaborating projects.

It will not happen! I would like to send a message that I do not intend to form the new government until being assured that citizens expressed their will at all 100 percent of polling stations in the Republic of Macedonia, namely that the new parliament will fully represent the citizens' will and not that of some criminal groups or of bullies that stuffed the ballot boxes. I will not form the new government as long as I am not certain that fair and democratic elections have been conducted in those one or two percent of polling stations. For me the will of the citizens is sacred, it is an obligation and responsibility. Democracy and freedom are prerequisites for everything else in a society, Gruevski said.

Unfortunately the incidents and irregularities occurred mainly in areas populated by ethnic Albanians, Gruevski said.

Albanians are honest people, artisans with their own culture and tradition of great value. They work hard to earn their bread. Those who provoked the incidents bring harm to the Albanians. However, violence has no ethnicity, it harms everybody equally, but most of all those who promote violent acts, Gruevski said.

A state that functions under the rule of law offers no room for violence. All of those who intend to provoke such acts will be thwarted and sanctioned, regardless of their political, ethnic, and religious affiliation. These [yesterday's] cases involved individuals that put the Albanians in a rather difficult position, people who do not act in favor of the Albanians. The Republic of Macedonia is powerful and is going to prove that it acts in line with the law and relishes democracy, Gruevski said.