At the panel discussion “One Society for All – Present and Perspectives”, which was held on December 15, 2021, as part of this year’s edition of CIVIL’s Conference “Perspectives 2022”, through a special interview on this topic, Minister of Justice in the Government of North Macedonia Bojan Maricic also took part.
What is the situation with the implementation of the Strategy “One Society for All”? Where is there progress, what are the weaknesses and challenges? What are the expectations, recommendations and prospects for 2022? These questions were given to all the participants of the panel, representatives of institutions and the civil society sector from several departments and areas.
Minister of Justice Bojan Maricic, who at the same time is also part of the Government operational body for the implementation of the Strategy, highlighted that the very adoption of this Strategy is a bold step and serious step forward of the Government, that it wants to deal with this issue as a priority.
“We remember that in previous phases, previous governments used the issue of interethnic, intercultural and other differences as a field for political battle, political provocations, political manipulations and incidents that harmed citizens. The adoption of this Strategy has changed the space and atmosphere of action and I think that it is a serious positive step”, said Maricic in the interview “Perspectives 2022”.
Minister Maricic thinks that the Strategy, having in consideration the circumstances, this year is being implemented with a good dynamic, the two bodies that are following its implementation are fully functional in all seven areas that are covered and he expects for it to be fully implemented.
“We are already halfway in the implementation of this Strategy. By the end of 2022, we expect full implementation, certainly, except for where there is force majeure and it cannot be implemented. However, in general, I think that the implementation of the Strategy is going well”, assesses Maricic.
He explained that the institutions are focused on the legal framework as well, on equitable representation, but also on introducing a different spirit in education, in culture, in relations between the youth, for recognizing diversity, mechanisms for overcoming conflicts, fight against hate speech, fake news and anything that can contribute to interethnic and intercultural tensions in society.
Maricic also spoke about the challenges in regards to the Strategy.
“The pandemic seriously slowed down our processes, that is a fact, especially in the part of public promotion of the results, but also public promotion of the principles of one and equal society for all, as well as interculturalism. I think that this is a long-term process and we should see it as such, though that does not mean that we should not make small steps that will take us to great results”, says Maricic.
According to him, education and culture have to be a priority, because implementation of strategies in the area of amending laws and engagement of institutions always goes easier, and more attention is always needed for areas that do not depend on the state and its action, but also on other factors. The involvement of different structures that show a real desire for implementing this concept give Maricic hope that the principle of One society for all and interculturalism will be revived in all areas. It can always be better, he says, and that is the challenge for 2022.
“The concept One society for all is a political concept, which in my opinion, has changed the political image of the country. What was done also in the elections in 2016 and onwards, we see that it completely changed the attitude of some of the actors, the main actors. In these local elections we had coalitions that we have not seen before, pre-election coalitions between parties that are from a different ethnic affiliation, and I think that is a new value. On the other hand, parties that refused the radical concept of One society for all, in a way, in their political action and coalition capacity, have faced those consequences”, pointed out Maricic.
According to him, there are many more serious steps that society needs to make.
“Here, I am also referring to the media, here I am referring to the educational institutions, here I am referring to the cultural institutions, here I am referring to the political parties, and finally, to each citizen. I think that steps in the right direction are for us to make specific projects, specific work, specific forms of cooperation, through which this concept will live”, says Maricic.
According to him, that concept cannot be revived if it remains only at the level of a political idea, which will be implemented through laws or equitable representation, which are just one segment of the concept, but citizens will feel much more contented if they have the opportunity to directly participate in its creation and implementation.
“That is why I think that the commitment to the creation of the new Strategy from 2023 and onwards will need to be in coordination, communication, consultation of a broader circle of civil society stakeholders, certainly also state bodies, state institutions, so that we can conclude the process as social, not just as institutional and state one”, considers Minister of Justice Maricic.
At the same time, he appealed to all stakeholders to actively engage in creating the content for this concept and its implementation.
“Only in this way we will all feel this concept, only in this way we will contribute, only in this way we will be able to criticize it where we think it is not in order or can be better, and only in this way we will leave a nice legacy for future generations, to be able to further upgrade that concept, instead of starting from scratch”, says Maricic in the interview for CIVIL Media and the Conference “Perspectives 2022”.
interview by: Petrit Saracini
camera: Atanas Petrovski
editing: Arian Mehmeti
translation: N. Cvetkovska
