by: MIRJANA NAJCEVSKA
It’s not about whether any of the Macedonian parties will coalition with the Albanian party that will win the most votes, but rather about when we will come out of the trap of ethnic constraints in order to enter the space of different ideologies, ideas, opportunities, solutions for achieving wellbeing of the citizens of Macedonia.
As long as in Macedonia a party based on values, instead of ethnic affiliation, is not formed, the state will be stuck in the Middle Ages.
As long is someone is demanding a prime minister or president or minister according to ethnic affiliation, and not according to an offered policy or program, Macedonia will remain the last hole in Europe.
As long as the management of the state institutions is positioned according to ethnic affiliation, instead of knowledge and skills and experience, Macedonia will be a union of tribes, and not a state.
As long as education is not measured according to quality, but according to the language in which it is carried out, Macedonia will fall on all lists of education, literacy and educational offer.
Language, culture and tradition are important things, and are part of the identity of the individual and group. However, their use in the defining the political scene in Macedonia has nothing to do with their protection, promotion or practice. It does have with defocusing the attention away from the problems of the everyday life, with the responsibility of the politicians, with coating everything in the same color so that the rot cannot be seen, and with placing kitschy flashing advertisements of the turbo-folk parties.
So far, the ethnicity has been used only to hide the lack of quality, ignorance, inexperience, deception behind it. Fair representation is an excuse that all parties use for side-stepping the law, whereas waving flags is a successful formula for masking the absence of positive results.
For me, there are no politicians Albanians or Macedonians or…
There are criminals and politicians from various ethnicities and (dis)beliefs.
I can count these second ones on the fingers of one hand.
