Macedonian Parliamentary Crisis May Block Progress

With almost all the opposition parties out of the parliament, internal political dialogue - one of the main prerequisites for the country’s progress towards the EU - is dead in the water for the moment, observers say. In addition, taking big decisions on important issues that require political consensus from all major players will be practically impossible. One such subject is the ongoing name dispute with Greece. “How can we overcome this dispute without all the political parties agreeing on some kind of red line? How are we going to make progress in our EU integration bid?  "One party cannot take decisions on important issues that affect the interests of all the citizens,” says Mirjana Malevska, a political science professor at the Tetovo-based University of Eastern Europe. The main opposition Social Democrats left the parliament on Friday after a controversial court decision to freeze the bank account of the country’s most popular A1 TV.

All but one of the smaller opposition parties have joined the Social Democrats. They have complained of a lack of democratic freedoms and asked that the ruling centre-right VMRO DPMNE allow snap polls.

“Each passing day without opposition in the parliament will deepen the crisis,” Denko Maleski, a former Macedonian foreign minister and ambassador to the UN, argues.

Maleski warns that the two main parties, the VMRO DPMNE and the opposition Social Democrats, are creating a dangerous antagonism between Macedonians which could lead to radicalization.

“There might be early elections after a certain period of rule without the opposition. Unfortunately in this case the political opponents would enter the election race with such ferocity that it might jeopardise the country,” Maleski says.

The opposition parties were absent from the regular parliamentary coordinative meeting on Monday, a gathering which usually convenes the leaders of all parties. “The country is clearly facing a parliamentary crisis. There is no doubt about it,” EU ambassador Erwan Fouere told media on Sunday. Noting that this has always been a “weak point of this government”, he urged Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his ruling party to “engage in political dialogue” to help bring the parliament boycott to an end. Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanovski, a lawmaker from the VMRO DPMNE, has asked the opposition to participate in Tuesday’s emergency session. He told media on Monday that the situation surrounding A1 TV and media freedom in general will be discussed at the session.