Devalued referendum

The vassals in power show their true faces more and more clearly with each new day. They got an assignment from their colonial master to send Macedonia to NATO at any cost, and they, at any price, and are ready to do so. They will not allow for the Zaev-Tsipras agreement to not pass. Because of the bargain they made with the colonial master: they act on his instructions on issues of his interest (like NATO), and he will ensure that they remain in power for a long time and use and abuse power in their own favor.

They have scheduled a consultative referendum. For an issue that is very important for a large number of citizens, for an issue for which many citizens would like them to have the final say, they called a consultative referendum. Turning the referendum into a farce and depriving citizens of their right to decide. Why didn’t they call for a mandatory referendum if they really intended to respect the voice of the people?

The citizens read it. Fearing the rigging of the result of the referendum, many have already decided to boycott him. So the vassals in power, in order to secure the Zaev-Tsipras contract at any cost, have called for a consultative referendum. They showed a considerable dose of amusement. But, if the referendum is consultative, if the “institutions” have the final word and not the citizens, then many will rightly ask themselves: what is the point of voting?

The Vassal-dilettante government, with the announcement of a consultative referendum, will cause even lower turnout in the referendum, discouraging those same citizens from going to the polls who would have voted if the referendum was required. Of course, they will try to mislead people by claiming that the consultative referendum would have the same importance as if it were compulsory and that they would obey the voice of the people if they expressed a different position than the government. And they will probably reach for a truce and will force the public sector employees to go out and vote. They will put a lot of effort for the referendum to turn out to be a total debacle and not to become clear as a day that they intend, at any price, to get what they want – because they were told so. But will this manipulation go unpunished?

Before announcing the referendum, opinions could be heard that the government could and should announce early elections. Some suggested it as a way to increase turnout. That would certainly have had an impact on the turnout, even though it would have been quite possible to vote in the elections, and boycott the referendum. There are probably two reasons why the government rejected this option. First, because in such a case, the Przino mechanism comes into force, according to which one hundred days before the parliamentary elections a new, transitional government for the conduct of elections, headed by a new prime minister, is proposed by the party with the largest number of deputies in the Parliament. And in that case, the possibilities for manipulation with the referendum will decrease. Secondly, because the ruling authorities know how many citizens have been disappointed with their Gruevski-like practice of power, they know how much they repent for allowing to be deceived and vote for them in the previous elections. Well, understandably, they are afraid of the result of regular and fair elections.

And that the government had the moral responsibility to announce early elections because of the Zaev-Tsipras agreement – it did. Of course, assuming they give a damn for democracy. SDSM’s leaders have come to power by promising to restore democracy, that the abuse of power for personal wealth will stop, that they will implement measures to improve the standard of living. They got the votes for those things. SDSM did not say in the election campaign that everything will be pushed aside and that NATO will be a priority, that they are ready to do everything that is required of them to push Macedonia into NATO. Since they did not get a mandate to do so, since they think that this is the right position, they should go to the polls and ask for a mandate from citizens for such a policy. It is called responsible government in a democratic country. But what is democracy according to SDSM? Only an empty word which they wave when someone else steals from the people.
Let’s say a word or two about the referendum question. Many have already pointed to the manipulations associated with it, so I will not spend much time on it. They devalued the referendum not only by making it consultative, but also by the ambiguity of the question. What do they want us to vote for? About the Zaev-Tsipras agreement? About joining NATO? Or about joining the EU? A violation of the Constitution (another in the line of many) would be if one wants to interpret that membership in the EU, just like joining NATO, does not constitute an alliance or a union with other states. And if so, for membership in the EU, the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia prescribes a mandatory referendum on which the majority of the total number of voters should vote in favor. With the announcement of a consultative referendum, vassal dilettantes in power disassociated this referendum as a necessary constitutional requirement for joining the EU. And, again, why should we go out to vote? For Zaev’s bosses from abroad to tap him of the shoulder and tell him that he did a good job? And then again go to a fresh, mandatory referendum on joining the EU when the EU’s doors are really open?

What can we say about blackmailing the citizens to go to the polls, because if they did not go, the “institutions” would consider the decision was made? As if this way the citizens transferred the decision of the institutions!? This twisted understanding of democracy and the boycott as a democratic tool should be condemned. And it is a manipulative attempt to ensure a greater turnout in a referendum. They devalued the referendum by making it consultative. They themselves trivialized the referendum by not giving the impression that they will respect the result of the referendum in case it is negative. And, on top of everything, they devalue the boycott as a democratic tool!? No, the boycott of the referendum will not mean consent to transferring the decision to the “institutions”! It will mean that the citizens disagree not only with the Zaev-Tsipras agreement, but also that they distrust the government in terms of its will to conduct a regular referendum and condemnation of the same Gruevski-like way of governing that it is practicing. The boycott will also mean resistance to the manipulative rule and a request for SDSM to open its own electoral program and to read about the implementation of the measures with which it won its term.

Democracy is an empty word for this government as well. Current vassals of power are not interested in hearing the voice of the people. Even with regard to an issue that is very important to many citizens, it made it impossible for citizens to be the ones who will have the final word. Only after it became clear to them that a significant boycott of the referendum is in play, they said they would respect the result of the referendum. Zaev even said he would resign if the referendum failed. Who believes that he will really do this? If they really wanted to respect democratic standards, they would have announced a compulsory referendum and an early parliamentary election. To implement a new, transitional government for the referendum and elections. Well, Zaev would have been obliged to resign if he lost the election. And not like this, to act a Democrat, and at the same time apply all the measures that will ensure an alibi so he would not have to resign.

In the next period, the authorities will be increasingly anxious and will increasingly resort to blackmail, especially to public sector employees. It is up to us to understand why this is happening, what is the true nature of the current government, to say “no” to the manipulations and abuse of power, and… to fight for democracy and governance in the interest of the common citizen, not the elites.

Zdravko Saveski