MILS NEWS 05/06/96

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From: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>

CONTENTS

[01] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTED THE INITIATIVE

[02] GEORGIEVSKI AND GOSHEV: 'POLITICAL VICTORY OF THE OPPOSITION'

[03] NATO AND 'PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE' AGREEMENT RATIFIED

[04] WILLIAM PERRY IN MACEDONIA ON 12 JUNE

[05] MACEDONIA'S INTEREST FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP AGAIN STRESSED

[06] SPREADING THE ACTIVITIES OF UNPREDEP IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

[07] NEW ROUND OF MACEDONIAN-GREEK TALKS

[08] PUPILS POISONED BY MEDICAMENTS

[09] 'TETOVO UNIVERSITY' ANNIVERSARY MARKED

MILS SUPPLEMENT

[10] 'Are UNPREDEP Spending Their Last Mandate in Macedonia?'

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 05 June 1996

[01] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTED THE INITIATIVE

The Parliament discussion began with the statements of the VMRO - DPMNE and Democratic Party leaders Ljupcho Georgievski and Petar Goshev.

'The Referendum for early parliamentarian elections has a constitutional basis, and the Parliament is obliged to schedule it,' said Ljupcho Georgievski, leader of VMRO - DPMNE, explaining it both as a Constitutional obligation and an ethic one towards those 218,000 voters who signed the Initiative. According to him, UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali also considers the Initiative legal, and it will be discussed by the Council of Europe bodies.

Georgievski stressed that the Government had not found a single authority to contest the Initiative. He stated several political motives for the collecting of signatures, such as the falsifying of the elections results, the breaking up of the Alliance for Macedonia Coalition and the Agreements with Greece and the EU. To all this, he added the catastrophically bad economic situation, such as the 50% reduced production since 'this government has been managing the Macedonian economy', the constant deficit in the export (38% fall in the last three months), the rising of the foreign debt to the current $1,700 million, the savings debt of the state towards the citizens of about $1 billion, the GNP of about $690, the over 30% unemployment rate, etc.

Petar Goshev, leader of the Democratic Party, paid the greatest attention to the political aspects of the Initiative and its constitutionality, which, as he said, presented the views of the citizens. He said it was natural for the MPs to be against early elections, if they were for elections at all. Referring to the entry of the Constitution which reads that the Parliament is obliged to schedule a referendum when at least 150,000 signatures are collected, Goshev emphasized that 218,000 had been submitted in this case, which must not be rejected by the Parliament. Goshev also reminded that what is not forbidden by the Constitution is allowed, and that the Laws in the country are not retroactive, referring to the new Law on Referendum.

The discussion separated the MPs in two: those for and those against the referendum, i.e. is the Parliament in charge of this issue or not? Opposition parties members considered the Initiative was legal and Constitutional and that it presented the will of over 200,000 voters. MPs of the parties in the governmental coalition said the Constitution did not give the possibility to dismiss the MPs on the basis of a referendum, i.e. that the referendum and the elections were completely different things.

SDSM members said the Initiative had no Constitutional basis, as the Constitution read that the Parliament could be dismissed only if majority if the MPs voted for. They also estimated the claims of the initiators that there was a governmental and parliamentarian crisis in Macedonia as false, and said that it was unfair to use the unemployed people and workers of bankruptcy enterprises in such an action, which the Parliament is not obliged to accept. It was also said that the initiators had realized that they had made a mistake by boycotting the second voting round in 1994 elections, and that they were now doing everything they could to enter the Parliament.

PDP members said such initiatives could positively influence the development of the plural conscience, but that there were no legal bases for early elections in this case.

Stressing the great amount of money the state would have to spend on new elections, PDP members said the initiators were motivated by rising their own political rating, and that the initiative was not only civil, but partly of political parties.

On the other hand, PDP - NDP coalition members said there was a Constitutional basis for the Initiative, which is confirmed, according to them, by the stand of UN Secretary General.

Liberal Party members said the referendum for early elections was an imperative, as there are 150,000 signatures, and warned the Parliament that it would become a generator of instability if it violated the Constitution.

Democratic Party of Macedonia (DPM) estimated that it was necessary to check the strength of the government through a referendum, but that the early parliamentarian elections must not be held simultaneously with the local ones.

Party for Complete Emancipation of Romas (PCER) estimated that the Parliament was carrying the complete responsibility for the stability of the country, and that the political power should be checked on regular elections.

Macedonian Parliament discussed about the initiative till late last night, when the session was discontinued. It will continue today, when the other items on the Agenda will be discussed.

Meanwhile, during the initiators' representatives were presenting their reports, several hundred citizens gathered in front of the Parliament Hall to express their support to the Initiative. They required early elections and change of the Macedonian government. Late last night, a number of citizens gathered tried to enter in the Parliament Hall and the police intervened. According to 'Vecer', there were stones thrown at the Parliament building and 'Sitel' TV reporters were attacked by the demonstrators while going out of the Parliament.

[02] GEORGIEVSKI AND GOSHEV: 'POLITICAL VICTORY OF THE OPPOSITION'

According to him, the victory is that all the affinities towards the current government had been broken last night. He said the number of opponents to the government was increasing daily, and forcasted it will not be long before the standing of the current government in Macedonia is reexamined.

Petar Goshev, Democratic Party leader, stated for Macedonian Television that the Constitutional Court was going to be the next institution where the Initiative would be discussed, when it would be seen whether the Court would be strong enough to protect the Constitution or it would yield to the government's influence. He also said the initiators were the political winners in this matter, and stressed that violation of the Constitution proved how much it would take for a satisfactory level of democratic elections to be achieved in Macedonia.

[03] NATO AND 'PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE' AGREEMENT RATIFIED

He stressed that only 6 of the 27 countries which had signed the Agreement had ratified it, and Macedonia is the seventh one.

The Parliament reached a consensus on this issue, and coordinators of all Parliament groups greeted the passing of the Law qualifying it as a proof of the foreign policy of Macedonia in the solving of the conflicts in the region and wider.

[04] WILLIAM PERRY IN MACEDONIA ON 12 JUNE

The visit will take place only one day before the NATO Ministerial Council session in Brussels on 13 and 14 June, in which Macedonian Defense Minister Blagoj Hanjiski will participate.

[05] MACEDONIA'S INTEREST FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP AGAIN STRESSED

Macedonian Television reported that Frchkovski also met with German Foreign Minister Claus Kinkel, who expressed his support to the Macedonian leadership and its policy that contributes to the stability of the region.

[06] SPREADING THE ACTIVITIES OF UNPREDEP IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

[07] NEW ROUND OF MACEDONIAN-GREEK TALKS

[08] PUPILS POISONED BY MEDICAMENTS

[09] 'TETOVO UNIVERSITY' ANNIVERSARY MARKED

Meanwhile, the Greek Agency ANA reported that tension was escalating in Albania with opposition parties throughout the country staging protests and rallies denouncing the May 26 elections as 'fixed'.

MILS SUPPLEMENT

[10] 'Are UNPREDEP Spending Their Last Mandate in Macedonia?'

('Dnevnik', 05 June 1996)

Signing of the Agreement that regulates the status of the American military forces, which are or will be engaged in the 'Partnership for Peace' Programme on the territory of Macedonia, made the 46 American soldiers officially the first US troops based in Macedonia.

Until yesterday, there were 546 American and 500 Nordic soldiers in the UNPREDEP. The UN Resolution referring to the Peace Mission in Macedonia and its reducing to 700 soldiers, reads that the number of both groups should be equal.

The Agreement signed last Monday refers to the American liaison team seated at the Macedonian Defense Ministry, to the forces acting on implementation of the bilateral cooperation programmes, to the programmes of the 'Partnership for Peace', and to the American helicopter troops in the UNPREDEP.

The Agreement was passed by the Government several hours before the signing, and was urgently ratified by the Parliament yesterday.

Before the US troops came to Macedonia, the transport of their equipment through Bulgaria (mostly of their 8 transport helicopters) was supposed to be approved by the Bulgarian Parliament.

Ministry of Defense reported that the eventual increasing of the number of American soldiers in Macedonia till November this year would be a result of a political decision of both parties.

The mandate of UNPREDEP in Macedonia was extended till November, and the US Secretary General was obliged to submit another report on the need of their further presence in the country.

One country - Russia - restrained from voting on the mandate extension for the first time. It was preceded by a Russian diplomatic proposal for having the mandate extended till September. They suggested for the UN military-political Mission in Macedonia to be made only political, depending on the implementation of the Dayton Accord.

A suggestion was presented to have 170 UN civil international observers in Macedonia. The rejection of this suggestion brought to Russian restraining from voting and even to the possibility to put a veto. Sources close to the Defense Ministry said that the USA had offered Russians something they could not refuse. That was the reason for their restraining, according to those sources.

Putting the veto is, however, still in the game, especially if one takes into account that Russia was not the only UN Security Council member country that opposed to the UNPREDEP mandate extension.

One of them was Greece, whose representative had asked for the report evaluation that Greek-Macedonian relations had normalized to be changed. Both those pro and those against the presence of the Peace Forces in Macedonia are using Bosnia and Kosovo as their arguments.

The eventual increasing of the number of US soldiers in Macedonia will depend on the success of the realisation of the Dayton Accord, and on the forthcoming elections in Bosnia. Some consider that if that is successfully realized, there will be definitely no need for the presence of UN military forces in Macedonia. Others say that the eventual failure of the Dayton Accord will only bring military actions closer to Macedonia, i.e. on the territories of Sandzak and Kosovo. The opened Kosovo issue is mentioned in both cases.

Meanwhile, Macedonian military forces are being restructured according to NATO standards and the group joining the Alliance at the beginning of 1997 is being mentioned. The group, certainly, includes Macedonia. At the same time, a high Russian military delegation came for a several-day visit to Macedonia, about which the Defense Ministry informed the public only after the information was made public by 'Dnevnik'.

At the end of their visit, some kind of a document was signed in the field of defense, about which no explanation was given. Also, the information of 'Dnevnik' that a high officer in charge of the Russian weapons sale had been one of the delegates was not denied by anybody.

(end)

mils news 05 June, 1996

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