Mickoski to consult the people
Erol Rizaov
Hristijan Mickoski, the president of VMRO-DPMNE, has been very busy and worked hard on exchanging views on the referendum. As a people’s party, they have drawn the strength from the people, so in the remaining days of his meditation, wrapped in hard work, he will crystallize his attitude to the party depending on what the people will say. On September 10, he says, after the consultation, he will announce his stance that will certainly not be a surprise because everyone already knows it: We are in favour of the EU and NATO, but we want to wait for better days, maybe one more decade, until we reach a better agreement with the Greeks. Better no deal than a bad deal. Beautifully put, without any prospect for this ingenious discovery to change until September 10, both with Mickoski and his people.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his team are preparing an extensive campaign for the future of “our” Macedonia, so it does not turn into a “void”. They are still considering about how much money should be spent in order to find out in which direction will our Macedonia go, whether it will be forward, backwards, or nowhere. I do not know whether Zaev and his partners are thinking more about the price of the future, or how to convince people of facts and evidence in a future that is priceless. Obviously, the promises and arguments of many public figures from the world, who warn citizens and politicians in Macedonia not to miss this last chance, will not be enough. What is necessary is something more tangible, more specific, something the citizens will recognize.
Ali Ahmeti urges “his” people to come out and vote in the referendum for EU and NATO membership… and so do all of those concerned about the fate of Macedonia, they ask their people of our poor Macedonia what to do, and before that, before they ask them, they tell them in advance what to do, just in case, so that there are no confusions. From what we have seen and heard in the past three or four decades on the Macedonian political scene without any risk of being mistaken, one can freely say that if someone says that he will ask the people what to do and which decision to make, he is definitely lying. I assure you that as soon as politicians mention the word ‘people’, they are lying. We have listened to such lies in the past 27 years of independence especially before elections, or before any the citizens’ voting.
For example, what kind of spectacular decision can Mickoski make after consulting with the people, when he claims on Alsat TV that if the institutional identity is not protected, then neither the national identity can be saved. This means that the offer of NATO and the EU does not apply. In order to have no suspicion or doubts about what Mickoski will come up with until September 10, he says that it is better to have no deal than to have a bad deal. And if there is a misunderstanding about this, Mickoski calls for a boycott without actually mentioning the word, but with a clear message when he says he expects a rather sterile, ambiguous campaign that will redirect the focus of the citizens to the wrong side, so basically people will remain at home on September 30th confused, knitting socks for the upcoming winter, which could be Siberian winter this year.
As a consolation, Mickoski says that all of the options are still open, and in fact, they are sealed off because the position of VMRO-DPMNE is already crystal clear. By defending the institutional identity, the national identity will be also defended. This newly-created confusion translated into understandable language means that Macedonia is not the essential name, but the geographical addition North, it is not the essence of being a Macedonian, and the Macedonian language, and even less Macedonian citizenship, but rather whether the Army of Macedonia will be called Army of North Macedonia , whether MANU will be Macedonian academy, or Academy of North Macedonia, whether state-funded state institutions will be Macedonian, or in North Macedonian etc.
Calm down, Mickoski, all state institutions will remain Macedonian as long as there are Macedonians, so there is no need for consultation with the people. The proof of this claim will be found in the answer to a brief and simple question that we should all ask ourselves, as well as answer it: Are state institutions called by the name of the people and the state, or the people are named according to the institutions and the parties of the world?