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MILS: News from the FYROM, 96-12-12Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>CONTENTS
MILS SUPPLEMENTMILS NEWSSkopje, 12 December, 1996[01] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OVERRULED PROPOSAL ON REFERENDUM FOR EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONSDuring yesterday's session the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia overruled the proposal on staging a referendum for early parliamentary elections, on grounds that it is not competent to rule on Parliamentary decisions. In support of this ruling - as the Macedonian radio reports - the Court assessed that the contested parliamentary decision did not represent a regulation requiring legal / constitutional analysis. The above mentioned act, it has been concluded, does address the concrete request of individually named proponents, a request not accepted by the Parliament as it evaluated that there was no constitutional ground to pass a Resolution on staging a referendum. With regards to the contested decision the Court states that it does not codify relations applicable on an indefinite number of subjects, or norms that could set a precedent for future cases. In order for an act of law to become statutory and binding, according to the Justices of the Constitutional Court, it has to outline relations referring to an indefinite number of legal entities and its enactment has to be of a permanent quality - applicable to all future legal cases, not just in this one instance.The ruling is rounded off by the opinion of Court on the alleged incompatibility of the Parliamentary decision to Constitutional provisions. It had been discussed and subsequently concluded that the Constitution clearly and unambiguously states that the duration of a MP mandate amounts to 4 years, as well as the mandatee may not be disavowed. A referendum may be held in concordance to criteria outlined within the Constitution, and by specific Parliamentary decisions on particular issues - or on petitions containing 150 000 signatures, as they are within the domain of parliamentary working. It was also stated in the release of the Constitutional Court that the Constitution did not procure the possibility to hold a referendum on early elections, unless the Parliament dissolved itself by its own will. [02] RESOLUTION ON VIOLENT DISINTEGRATION OF STATES ADOPTED UPON MACEDONIAN INITIATIVEUpon initiative of the Macedonian delegation the UN Security Council adopted the Resolution on Maintaining International Security and Preventing the Violent Disintegration of States yesterday - according to information released by the Macedonian Foreign Office. On this occasion the UN Security Council has encouraged all states and international organisations to implement all options for the creation of a peaceful world, and to continue taking advantage of new measures conducive to the obstructing of the violent disintegration of states - while upholding the principles of good neighbourliness, the sovereignty of international borders and the territorial integrity of all states. The UN General Assembly decided to address all issues raised by this Resolution as a separate point on its agenda for its 53rd Session.As media remind, the Resolution has been compiled upon initiative of Macedonia and 24 more states from all over the world as co-authors. [03] `VECHER': A NEW TEMPORARY REFERENCE FOR MACEDONIA?The UN Security Council could quite soon determine a new - again temporary - reference (i.e. name) for the Republic of Macedonia, according to today's issue of `Vecher’. The paper is quoting sources within this international organisation upon stating that possible heirs to the FYROM acronym may be `New Macedonia' or ‘The Republic of Macedonia (Capital: Skopje)'. Both Greece and Macedonia are not in favour of any temporary reference as it would only stall the settlement of this issue. `Vecher' however reports that the UN Security Council may well accept some sort of temporary reference, paralleled by the continuation of talks in the future. With regards to this sources within the Macedonian Foreign Office revealed that Macedonia would not consent to the use on any temporary name, just as it had officially repudiated the FYROM acronym, used up to now.The possible alteration of the FYROM reference is appearing more likely in view of the future admission of SR Yugoslavia to the UN, as the latter would find itself in a rather humorous position of having Yugoslavia and a `Former Yugoslav Republic' in its lines - ‘Vecher’ reports today. [04] MINISTER FRCHKOVSKI: EQUAL TREATMENT OF COUNTRIES APPLYING FOR `NATO' MEMBERSHIPIn his address to the members of the NATO member-state Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on Cooperation with `PFP' Programme member-states, the Macedonian Foreign Secretary Frchkovski stressed that regarding admission into the Alliance, an equal treatment of all applicants was prerequisite - without any sort of levelling out into groups or regional conditioning. According to A-1 TV the Head of Mac. Diplomacy requested a fortification of relations between NATO and those countries not to be covered by the first stage of enlargement. He furthermore appealed for an indispensable and unobstructed expansion of NATO in the South Balkan region. Macedonia considers NATO to be a key option for regional stability, emphasized Minister Frchkovski while welcoming the concept of strengthening collaboration through the new `Partnership Plus' (PP) and the establishing of the Atlantic `Partnership' Council.As MTV reports from Brussels, in his speech Minister Frchkovski dwelled on Macedonia's activities for increasing regional security, the organising of the Forum on the Europeanization of the Balkans and the Furthering of Good Neighbourliness in Skopje in January next year. He also reported on the recently-held international seminar `An Agenda on Preventive Diplomacy' which resulted in the proposal to form a Centre of Preventive Diplomacy in Skopje. The Mac. Head of Diplomacy also underlined the support rendered by the Republic of Macedonia for compiling a more inclusive demilitarization project for the region, as a result of adopting the rather relevant Lisbon OSCE papers. [05] ALEXANDER MEXI: PRESENCE OF `NATO' TROOPS ON KOSOVO INEVITABLEIn an interview for `Rilindija' Albanian PM Alexander Mexi stated that the presence on international NATO forces on Kosovo were prerequisite to avoid a possible conflict, and to create a climate of equal dialogue between Serbs and Albanians. Mexi - according to `Makfax' - considers the cohabitation of Serbs and Albanians to be feasible via commenced integration processes into Europe. The Albanian PM furthermore announced new steps of the Albanian diplomacy with regards to settling the so-called national issues.[06] SALI BERISHA: `THE UNIVERSITY OF TETOVO' A FACTOR OF STABILITY AND PROGRESS FOR THE WHOLE OF MACEDONIA`Albanians in Macedonia have achieved a realistic progress in terms of fulfilling their rights, but their furthering remains inevitable. `The University of Tetovo' embodies a factor of stability and progress for Macedonia in general, not only for Albanians', said Albanian President Sali Berisha during a press conference held yesterday on his meeting Kiro Gligorov in Lisbon. While estimating that problems accumulating over 50 years cannot be resolved in 3 to 4, the Albanian Head of State stressed that he and President Gligorov discussed the participation of Albanians in Macedonia's administration - which had been denoted as insufficient by the Albanian side. `Makfax' is quoting Radio Tirana by stating that Berisha emphasized the tremendous responsibility exhibited by Albanians regarding the country, by working within both the Government and the Parliament. In the end the Albanian President expressed his conviction that Macedonia's stability will be conditioned by the harmony between both population segments in the country, and those others living in it.[07] THE HELSINKI COMMITTEE ON THE DEMANDS OF ALBANIAN STUDENTS AT THE PEDAGOGICAL FACULTY OF SKOPJEThe Helsinki Human Rights Committee of the Republic of Macedonia is monitoring events concerning the well-founded demands of Albanian students for instruction of all subjects at the Pedagogical Faculty of Skopje in Albanian with surprise and astonishment... this is part of the essence of yesterday's public announcement issued to all media by the Helsinki Human Rights Watch in Macedonia. It furthermore stresses that this is the fourth month since Albanian students have begun to boycott lectures, whereas the issue remained unresolved due to the obvious lack of decisiveness exhibited by the Government on one hand, and the legal - formal shelters used by the Dean of the Pedagogical Faculty.The statement continues by claiming that the inevitable fulfillment of the demands placed by Albanian students was not only due to the need to procure compatibility to international standards on minority rights. Throughout the Republic of Macedonia a large number of pre-school, elementary and secondary education institutions - where instruction is being conducted in Albanian entirely - have been existing within legal boundaries for years. This quantity of statutory operating institutions requires the necessary amount of instructors in this language - and this prerequisite quantum of teachers is being trained at the Pedagogical Faculty of Skopje. [08] US INITIATIVE TO ATTRACT CAPITAL FOR SE EUROPENine SE member-states have signed the US initiative facilitating the procurement of foreign capital in the region, and the fortification of economic cooperation with the rest of Europe, according to data release by the `Makfax' agency. The Senior Counsellor to the US President, Richard Shifter, announced this in Geneva, stressing that so far the initiative had been adopted by Albania, B&H, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Turkey. Croatia and Slovenia attended the meeting, but abstained from signing the paper enacting the initiative, whereas SR Yugoslavia was not asked to attend due to protests in Belgrade.[09] AGREEMENT ON CUSTOMS COOPERATION WITH TURKEY DUE BEGINNING NEXT YEARThroughout the past two days a delegation of the Customs Under-Secretariat of the Republic of Turkey has been visiting the Customs Services HQ of Macedonia, in order to complete the almost one-year-long negotiations on the bilateral cooperation agreement. Representatives of both sides stated that solutions of high quality had been found for the intensification of collaboration and the adherence to the principles of the World Customs and the World Trade Organisations. Among other things, the agreement is to be conducive to the detection of illegal drug-trafficking, arms dealing and smuggling of chemical substances. The paper should be signed within app. 40 days.[10] AGREEMENT BETWEEN RAILWAY AUTHORITIES OF GREECE AND MACEDONIAThe meeting between representatives of Greek and Macedonian railway authorities - held in Thessalonica last week - resulted in a consensus on increasing railway traffic between both countries, reports the Macedonian Radio. Thus parties transporting between 2 000 and 10 000 tons per annum will benefit from an 8% discount rate, whereas transports over 10 000 tons will receive 16% discount.The Agreement will also facilitate the raising or reducing of negotiated transport tariffs over a certain period of time by both sides, should this prove necessary. The deal, however, does not cover the transport of crude oil as terms on this issue will have to be outlined within a separate agreement. [11] FOUNDERS' MEETING OF SHORT-TERM STOCK AND MONEY EXCHANGEThe inaugurational session of the Short-Term Stock and Money Exchange `AD Skopje' is scheduled for 18th this month, reports A-1 TV. The exchange will provide a facility to link up demand and offer of short-term bonds and financial means, i.e. the giving and taking up of short-term loans. The starting capital amounts to 85 000 DM, and its founders are around 17 banks and savings institutions. The exchange has obtained the permit of the NBM Governour, and is to commence regular operations after legal registration.[12] NEW TAX SYSTEM ON LUXURY GOODS STARTING 1ST JANUARYThe Government Decision on the new tax, customs and public fees system of luxury / deficit goods such as oil derivatives, cigars, alcoholic beverages and coffee should be enacted from 1st January 1997 onwards. A-1 TV reports that this paper will allow the import of these goods once a letter of warranty has been submitted to the Payment Flow Institute and the Customs Services HQ regarding the payment of all charges. Thus the bank guarantees to pay duty and other fees should the importer take the goods into possession unauthorizedly prior to settling all dues.The value of this financial warranty varies from 3 million DM (oil derivatives) to 1 million (cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and coffee). The Customs HQ of Macedonia denotes this measure as an attempt to obstruct the smuggling of the above named goods. [13] CONGRATULATIONS BY PRESIDENT GLIGOROV ON `UNICEF' ANNIVERSARYMacedonian Head of State Kiro Gligorov has forwarded his congratulations to the Macedonian UNICEF mission regarding the 50th Anniversary of this UN Agency dedicated to child care.`On occasion of this great event - 50 years of existence and effective work of UNICEF - I would ask you to convey my warmest congratulations and best wishes for subsequent success within the noble and invaluable mission of UNICEF to all benefactors throughout the world working on generating a permanent smile on the faces of all children. The merits of this powerful organisation and movement in protecting the rights of those most helpless - of children - are truly unfathomable. We do highly appreciate the work of this UN Agency in Macedonia, as our country has been a fully-fledged member of the UN for several years already. We are happy to contribute to the achievement of our common goals by cooperating with UNICEF. By congratulating you on your significant anniversary once again, allow me to use this opportunity to wish all our wards - the children - an untroubled childhood.' states the congratulatory note to the UN Children's Educational Fund. [14] ON FOLKLORE OUTPUT ON THE TERRITORY OF MACEDONIAThe Scientific Meeting on `Folklore Output on the Territory of Macedonia' was brought to a close at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) yesterday.The event was attended by app. 30 participants discussing folklore and ethnology issues, both that of Macedonians and of minorities and ethnicities encountered throughout Macedonia. It is planned to provide a follow-up in shape of two volumes to this meeting. The books would contain material presented during this event, studying the culture of Macedonia as an integral entity, and they would represent a segment of the macro-project on `Culture on the Soil of Macedonia' - which has been implemented by MANU for several years now. MILS SUPPLEMENT[15] `Unemployment Up, Standard Down'(`Vecher' - 10th December 1996)The unemployment rate in our country reached the total of over 35%! Living standards take taken a dive by app. 40%! Key social problems throughout the process of transition in this country are: growing unemployment, a worsening of living standards, the disintegration of stratified social structure into huge mass impoverishment of the population and the fast gaining of wealth of a very small group. This is being indicated by data on the drastic plunge of purchase potential by the majority of the population, as their pay moves within the reach of the existential minimum. in addition to this there is the gradually increasing expenditure dynamics in order to provide social security parallel to the GNP growth... Such would be the contents of `the charts' presented by Dr. Jorde Jakimovski - Head of the Institute of Sociological and Political- Legal Research of Skopje - during a recent scientific meeting at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. On the beginning of transition procedures - some time during 1990 - the percentage of welfare cases among the working force in Macedonia totalled 34%. Since then employment has been drastically reduced on the account of an ever-increasing unemployment rate which has broken the record limit of 35% these days. Another worrisome fact is the registering of more and more young and highly- qualified people in the unemployment line. Present times are marked by a decrease of living standards among the population by app. 40%, due to the suspending of subsidies, the significant rise in product and service cost and the factual streamlining of personal income. This entails changes in social stratification, i.e. the tendency for one group to increase on account of another, or several other groups. What also happens is a social division based on education as a key criterion, as the possession of a certain diploma entails the affiliation to a certain kind of `elite' creating opportunities for the upscaling of one's economic status and affecting one’s social and political mobility to the same extent. Bearing in mind that Dr. Jorde Jordanovski mentioned education as a crucial dimension within social stratification in our country, in terms of its impact throughout the genesis of this so-called `elite', we should ask ourselves whether this should be seen as an identification of the educated with the wealthy? His reply was that there is a trend to include the more educated - and above all businessmen - in this `elite' - although many other factors (e.g. politics, power, etc.) influence its creation. Thus it cannot be `automatically' said that the most educated people are the wealthiest ones. What remains, however, is the fact that their `diploma' sets them apart from those on the brink of poverty - unlike the less educated who are about to hit the bottom. This above mentioned `elite' also includes businessmen - i.e. those calling themselves by this denotation - in addition to the better educated ones. They keep a certain amount of distance between themselves and the poverty line. A small number, though, are finding themselves at the top of the social pyramid - as those most wealthy ones. Contrary to this the base is comprised of households with unemployed family members, pensioners, blue-collar workers... Unfortunately this stratified social structure moves towards the increasing of poverty within the social pyramid, and its insertion among middle class ranks. This is a process completely opposite to the one advocated by developed democracies and open economies - where the pyramid gradually changes into a rhombi and the position of the middle class is considerably fortified. What is, in this case, the situation concerning the procurement of the social security of citizens - as expenditures in this sector are constantly on the rise? Retirement pension funds and health insurance funds, as well as the Employment Agency, have been worn down by the `permanent fasting' meager contribution rate entailed - as those are either arriving much too late, or they are reduced from surrealistically low pay rates. The financial deficit is omnipresent and hard to cover by budgetary injections. In case of the Employment Agency the participation rate of National Budget has risen to as much as 50%! The financial disintegration of institutes funded by contributions is evident, and indicative of a serious system malfunction regarding social security and protection. This is supported by the fact that whereas in 1990 the number of health-insured people amounted to 96.6% of the population - it has dropped to 73.9% by 1994. The same trend is to be observed with retirement pensions, where the category of `minimum pension' recipients has become the largest - `conquering' the army of app. 220 000 pensioners who, generally speaking, have suffered a decrease in living standards. (end)mils news 12 December 1996Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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