Macedonia Albanians Rally Against Government

SKOPJE, 22. APR. 2016 – Several thousand Albanians added their voices to the chorus of dissent with the current authorities in the divided country. Chanting slogans against the heads of Macedonia’s ruling parties, several thousand ethnic Albanians rallied on Friday in Skopje at a protest organized by Albanian associations and small political parties. Protestors chanted “Down with the Regime”, “Down with Gruevski” leader of the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, and “Down with Ahmeti”, referring to the head of the junior ruling ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI. The protest was organized by the so-called Association of Former Political Prisoners and Persecuted Albanians from Macedonia, the Association of War Veterans from the National Liberation Army, OVL-UCK, the Movement for Reforms inside the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, as well as by the National Democratic Rebirth party, RDK. “We are protesting for a bi-national state and for two official languages [Macedonian and Albanian],” Zijadin Zela, head of the movement for reforms inside the opposition DPA, said. As his words indicated, the protest was not only aimed at the government but also against the Macedonian state as it has existed for the past 25 years, which many Albanians consider discriminatory.
The peaceful protest, which started in the Albanian-dominated municipality of Cair, moved slowly through Skopje and ended in front of the parliament in central Skopje.Protesters also drove several vehicles with banners saying “Albania, where are you?” and “Stop the politically driven [court] processes.”
The protesters also called for the rule of law and the depoliticization of state institutions that they say particularly discriminate against Albanians who make up a quarter of the Macedonian population of 2.1 million.The protest comes against a backdrop of an escalating political crisis in the country and amid daily anti-government protests organized by the civic association “Protestiram” [“I Protest”] and the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM. “We support all protests against [Nikola] Gruevski’s regime, we want to see Gruevski who is a proven Albanophobe end up in prison where he belongs and where he puts innocent Albanians instead,” one middle-aged protester told BIRN. “We protest against the Macedonian politicians and their Albanian servants who are working against the Albanian people in this country,” he added. The 11th night of protests, dubbed the “Colourful Revolution” after the use of paint balls on state buildings and monuments – seen as symbols of Gruevski’s ten years in power, are set to resume Friday evening in Skopje and in several other towns. They started after President Gjorge Ivanov on April 12 dramatically pardoned 56 politicians and their associates from facing criminal investigations.
The pardon mostly affected politicians from the ruling parties, including VMRO DPMNE chief Gruevski and his former ministers, who were being investigated by the Special Prosecution.The Special Prosecution was formed last autumn as part of an EU-brokered political crisis accord aimed at ending the crisis in the country through a set of reforms that would create conditions for free and fair elections. The Speaker of Parliament, Trajko Veljanovski, ramped the crisis up further when he confirmed the June 5 date of the general election.The ruling VMRO DPMNE party had pushed hard for the June date without the consent of the opposition, which claims reforms needed to ensure free elections had not been put in place.The crisis revolves around opposition claims that Gruevski’s government was responsible for the illegal wiretapping of over 20,000 people as well as other crimes.Gruevski, who took power in 2006 and resigned as Prime Minister earlier this year, under the terms of the EU accord, claims that unnamed foreign intelligence services “fabricated” the wiretapping tapes and gave them to the opposition to destabilize the country.The EU this week canceled plans to summon Macedonian leaders to Vienna for talks on Friday aimed at salvaging the EU-brokered crisis accord.