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Iliria International Review – 2012/1
© Felix–Verlag, Holzkirchen, Germany and Iliria College, Pristina, Kosovo
Summary
The political culture, according to scholar Kavanagh is part of
the overall societal culture, and represents a set of basic values, emotions,
knowledge, attitudes and convictions, within which the political system
operates, shaping and feeding political processes. Culture came as a
sequence to efforts to factor the spiritual world of people in explicating
policy. Political culture brings to surface some kind of independence of
culture from economic factors, and the role of culture in political order
and economic development.
This paper provides the theoretical aspects of political culture
and political systems, within which its reflection is analysed on several
aspects of interethnic relations in a democracy. Also, it accentuates the
preferred paths of Western Balkan countries, including Macedonia,
towards integration with the European Union, which is spiked with
many challenges. In the political culture of multi-ethnic societies, ethnic
divisions may have an influence. The ethnic principles are still present in
the political arena of Macedonia, where although there is some
“interethnic reconciliation”, the failure in implementing the Ohrid
Framework Agreement, signed in 2001, between Albanians and
Macedonians, there are often political contractions, affecting national
interests, which is in contradiction to all values of the European Union,
mainly with human rights, but also ethnic rights.
The object of the analysis of this paper is specifically related to:
- extended transition of Macedonia,
- political consensus,
- role of political parties, and
- interethnic relations after the Ohrid Framework Agreement.
Dr.sc. Jonuz ABDULLAI, Mr. Demush BAJRAMI
Political culture in Macedonia after the Ohrid
Framework Agreement
Jonuz Abdullai, Demush Bajrami
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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Political culture in South-Eastern European countries has been
analysed in different views, especially in the reform process, where it has
an important role.
Conclusions of this paper are that Macedonia must fulfil the
conditions set forth, both political and institutional, based on the political
culture for EU integration, since political culture, according to scholar L.
Pye represents a “set of basic values, emotions and knowledge shaping
and feeding political processes”.
Key words: Macedonia, Ohrid Agreement, Western Balkan,
political culture, democracy, transition, integration.
Introduction
Political culture is unavoidably one of the key topics of research in
modern political science, and not only. This is where the different views on its
meaning come to surface. Therefore, the view of those who see political culture
as a model of individual attitudes and orientations towards politics between
members of a political system seem more comprehensible. This statement,
finding ourselves in the views of Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, represents
a subjective area which gives meaning to political activity. The notion of
today’s civil culture and political culture rotate within a source of debate and
new research initiatives.
Underlining the importance of political culture in society, where a
special accent is given to socio-political aspects, Denis Kavanagh has defined it
as part of the general societal culture, representing a set of basic values,
emotions, knowledge, attitudes and convictions, based on which the political
system of a country operates, shaping and feeding the political process
1
. This is
the definition which describes what we call political culture. Another definition
provides that “political culture represents a set of basic values, emotions, and
knowledge shaping and feeding political processes”.
2
When we talk about
definitions, one must state that depending on the number of scholars tackling
the issue, that many are the definitions, although in essence they are intended
to underline the role and relevance of political culture within a certain political
system. In these terms, an extraordinary contribution is given by Almond and
Verba, who see development of the notion of political culture closely related to
the concept of a political system.
1
Denis Kavanagh, Political Science and behavioural policy (Shkenca Politike dhe Politike
Sjelljes), 1983
2
L. Pye, Political Culture (Kultura politike), 1995
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In a wider sense, political culture consists in the set of all features of
personality relevant to politics. It sprang as a consequence of efforts to factor
the spiritual world of people in explicating politics, thereby bringing to surface
some independence of culture from economic factors, but also the relevance of
culture to the political order and economic development.
Almond and Verba have argued that political culture is in fact civil
culture, and they have stated that this is more suitable for democracy,
rendering it more stable. In their terms, there are three basic types of political
culture: parochial (provincial), vassal (subjected) and participatory political
culture. They underline that the political culture of any society is in fact a mix
of these three types, in which case political processes are dominated by and fed
by this mix. This political culture they prefer to call a “civil culture”. In this
context, sustainable democratic systems were created as a result of a mixture
between the subjected political culture and the participatory one, which in
modern times is known as a civil culture. In terms of civil culture, people are
rather familiar with the political process, and they feel they have sufficient
power to be able to make changes. Simultaneously, elites are rather sensitive to
impulses coming from citizens. Therefore, political culture is more a result of
cognitive orientations, emotional and evaluation orientations towards the
political system, the inputs and outputs aspects, as per their positions in the
political system. In other words, this is the manner how people see and
evaluate the political system, themselves and other subjects in a political
system, and the feelings the have against entities of a political system
3
.
Therefore, people are those who give value to their needs, wishes and
preferences (and emotions) through their civil initiatives, which are fed into the
system institutions, and express their reaction or feedback for the same. This in
fact in a way consolidates the clear contours of democratization of a modern
society.
Political culture as a term was first used by the German philosopher, I.
Gerder, 1979, in his work “Political Culture and Soviet Policy”. In political
science research, his accent was on comparing political culture of various
regimes and states. Only in the United Kingdom and the US was there a civil
culture suitable for development of a democratic political system, although
later, research by other authors has suggested that this conclusion is rather
rigid, and changes in political culture in due time allow for establishment of
democratic structures in those countries in which such culture had not existed
before (Italy, Germany, etc.).
3
Gabriel Almond dhe Sidney Verba,“The Civic Culture”,1963
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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J.J. Rousseau, according to David Held, saw the individual as
completely involved in decision-making and direct policy-making (especially in
enacting laws), which is related to its life and affirmation of the notion of active
participation of all citizens in drafting major laws
4
. This would mostly
correspond to a congregational political culture, which is in fact related to
culture corresponding the political structure, in which political knowledge of
the population is predominantly correct, and their impressions and assessment
are harmonious. Many scholars and researchers have seen the transfer of
political culture to individuals through political socialism, which affects
political behaviour, which in turn influences the stability of political systems.
Many studies have even suggested that the desirable societal values are “cut”
from individuals by social mechanisms and political socialism! Also, Dimitar
Bajallxhiev thinks that political culture has a direct impact on policies, political
systems, in all fields and political behaviour and activity related to political
decision-making. All occurrences related to politics are found in the sphere of
political culture operation
5
. Political culture assigns special care to existence
and recognition of political experience and tradition, by which legacy is
created, meaning succession in political life. Setting from this, political culture
is an embodiment of contradictions, the unity of the past and the future,
contradictions which may be resolved only by creative skills of humans, which
result in capabilities of a critical view on society and the personal (individual),
to demand future projections in atypical conditions.
South-Eastern Europe, or better said, countries of the Western Balkan,
which includes the Republic of Macedonia, are coping with numerous political
reforms. This reforming path is passed faster by some, and slowly by some
other countries. Such reforms are a condition for EU integration, and therefore
many of these countries have faced and continue to face many challenges. Some
of these countries have not met the required conditions, both political and
institutional. In the majority of cases, the recent Progress Reports of the
European Commission have remarked on Macedonia, which although has been
granted its status of candidate country, and despite the statements of some
progress, it has “not fulfilled its political criteria”. Although serious steps have
been taken in addressing key priorities of the Accession Partnership, there is
still need for further efforts in reforming certain segments. Considerable
challenges remain in key areas, in which the OSCE – ODIHR Election
Monitoring Mission has reported that key international standards have not
been met in elections”. Here it is stated that “political dialogue needs to be
strengthened and be sustainable, with a view of allowing for an efficient
4
Дејвид Хелд , “Модели на демократија”, Академски печат, Скопје, 2008
5
Dimitar Bajallxhiev (Politologija, Skopje, 2009
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performance of political institutions, specifically the parliament”. Also,
corruption keeps expanding and remains a rather serious problem, although a
number of steps have been taken to this direction
6
. There is no lesser emphasis
on the measures to be taken to ensure that public administration is protected
against undue political interventions, which otherwise means avoidance of
politicization and partisanship of public and state administration. The
framework of changes must necessarily involve the political culture, which in
the reforming process has a very important role. Many scholars are of thought
that clichés and biases, when talking about political culture, are not acceptable.
This is further combined with the fact that research so far has suggested the fact
that societies and regional countries with changes in the reform process have
had a faster progress in their political culture.
Political culture in South-Eastern European countries must be analysed
from several aspects, especially in the process of reforms and realization of
national rights, where it plays a major role. This suggest a very convincing
argument, for as much as democracy is embedded into a society, that much the
political culture changes. In political culture of societies in multi-ethnic
countries, an influence may be exerted by ethnic divisions as well. The ethnic
principle is present also in the political arena of Macedonia, which often
generates political contractions, thereby affecting national interests, which is in
turn a contradiction to all values of the European Union, mainly human rights.
Here is where political will is required to change power relations in creating
national, religious and gender equality. Before all, this may be achieved with an
active participation of all ethnic communities in political life, as is the case with
the Republic of Macedonia, and further, the civil security, which makes the full
puzzle of the EU integration process, and general democratization of the
society, and development of democratic institutions. At this point, one must
emphasize the fact that it is necessary to tackle with the challenge of political
communication, where according to refined German views, the
“communication models are what creates an identity within progress”. In fact,
what is emphasized by (Ernest) Genler is that the foundation of a modern social
order is not the executor, but the deliverer. Not the guillotine, but ‘doctorat
d’etat’ (reasonable nomination), is the main tool and synonym of state
strength”
7
.
Stepping further, we shall see that Hangtinton believes that the majority
of countries in the world shall eventually become modern countries, but not at
the same level or shape. Cultural differences shall remain to influence
6
Europa, Press Release, Rapid, Brussels, 5 November 2008
7
Ethnic conflict – religion, identity and politics (Konflikti etnik-religjioni, identiteti dhe politika) (edited
by S.A. Janakos), “Prosvetno dello”, ShA, Shkup, 2009
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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international relations, economic development and political changes. “The
world as we know it will change. The most important challenges for us, in the
coming years, is to live and to know how to deal with diversity”
8
. Therefore,
democracy affirms the principle of political, national, racial, religious and
gender equality, by denying the existence of a unique absolute social truth,
because where there is an absolute and ultimate truth, there is no room for
freedom or equality. To have a solid, functional and transparent democracy,
state authority holders do not use repressive and violence means to gain and
retain the power. If we approach this from a different angle, e.g. from what
Hobbes calles (in)justice, where according to him “before calling something just
or unjust, we must have a repressive power, to compel barbarian people to
apply their conventions, by fear of punishment, larger than the benefit they
expect from violating the deal”. We must be aware that this conclusion pertains
to the Hobbes’ time, while today, any such tendency placed in the current
context would be an abuse of power, because the modern objective is to have
an organized plural, modern, dynamic society, where potential conflicts must
be kept at a tolerant level, and any eventual dispute must be resolved through a
dialogue. The people and politically active levels must support the idea of
democracy and democratic institutions, but also the international influence
with its positive images on democratic stability.
Democratic order implies political and social pluralism.
Democratization as a process related to modern political history, consists in
creating, cultivating and developing a democratic order in modern societies.
The wave of democracy contains in itself a set of a transition from non-
democratic regimes to a democratic regime, based on certain time periods. This
does not apply though to all countries in the same manner. When we talk about
Macedonia, one must admit that changes have not had the same pace
throughout the years of transition. Here we can use the conclusion of A.
Giddens, who talks about social development and links it to transition, thereby
stating that “transition has often gone opposite ways throughout these
periods”.
9
Changes are important, although they do not represent transition to
a new shape, but are a result of modernism: from an early period to the current
“high modernism”. There are no entirely new movements. All movements
marking the whole modernism period are related to some of its basic elements,
such as the “institutional dimension of modernism”. According to Marx, ideas
and culture are part of a “superstructure” which is conditioned by the
economic base – the manner of production. In his quest of providing a more
thorough explanation, S. M. Lipset sets the conditions for maintaining
8
Samuel P. Hangtinton, Politicka misla, Shkup, 2003)
9
Anthony Giddens, Konzekvencije modernosti, 1990
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democracy, through market economy, economic development rates (GDP per
capita) and democratic political culture (democratic values). In this process, T.
Carothers, suggests that many countries, pursuing the early paradigm of
transition, have fallen into so-called political “grey areas”, which means that
these countries suffer from a large democratic deficit, which consists of poor
representation of citizens’ interests, lesser participation beyond elections,
violations of laws by senior officers, poor public trust on state institutions and
poor institutional consistency of the state
10
. Changes made as a result of
transition initiated, go in parallel with other negative tendencies of
development, such as inadequate distribution of development, and increased
social differences between citizens in Macedonia, which have created a higher
level of economic and social insecurity in the country. In social and economic
terms, Macedonia did not have any increase of gross domestic product after its
independence, which shows that the system, based on socially owned property,
was not able to secure positive economic effects.
11
Therefore, since the
beginning of transition, Macedonia had to cope with external political and
economic pressure. Inefficient privatization and economic reconstruction, mass
dismissals from work, serious reduction of livelihood standards, and rapid
growth of poverty, are some of the main causes to be emphasized by Mitrevska.
Meanwhile, according to Vankovska, from an “oasis of peace”, the country was
transformed into a “Place d’armme”, interethnic relations suffered a lot, fragile
identities of main ethnic groups surfaced.
It is already necessary to support the extended and delayed political
and economic transition
12
, including the completion of approximation of
domestic legislation with the EU legislation, always waiting for a suitable
moment, eventually aspiring EU membership. The European Union has
strengthened its economic and other kinds of support for the Western Balkan
countries in their efforts to cope with the challenges.
EU involvement and assistance needs to be combined with a truthful
effort of governments in undertaking necessary reforms in creating necessary
administrative capacities and to cooperate amongst them… In this context, high
priority is to be assigned to the combat against organized crime and corruption;
progress in this field is essential in securing rule of law, to strengthen trust in
state institutions, to generate private investments and taking the country closer
to EU membership. A careful study of political culture and its effects on
political development may facilitate the democratization process, especially
when transition occurs in an authoritarian post-communist and ethnically
10
Dr. Veselin Vukotić, Dr. Steve Pejovich, Tranzicija i institucije: što dalje?, 1999
11
Marina Mitrevska Conflict prevention and management (“Parandalimi dhe menaxhimi i konflikteve”),
Soros, Skup, 2009
12
Jonuz Abdullai Social changes and transitin (“Ndryshimet sociale dhe tranzicioni”), Tetovo, 2008
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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divided society. Today’s political culture shows a deficiency of participatory
elements – a phenomenon brought about by the third wave of transition to the
region. The appearance of democratic values and human rights in post-
communist societies, as an objective to be achieved by the leading elites, may
legitimate a new direction and educate the population on such values.
All non-democratic regimes, whether it is Medieval tyranny or the
modern totalitarian oligarchy, are characterized by an opposition of the idea of
political equality. In such constellations, there was an assumption of a single
societal absolute truth, which was “uncovered” only for people in power!
Therefore, Heywood called the former president of the former USSR,
Gorbatchev to be rather brave, because while talking about a “common
European home”, he had proclaimed the fact that the human rights doctrine
bridged ideological rivalries between communism and capitalism. This gives us
the right to conclude that human rights, but also national rights, must be
protected well. But, in Macedonia, this can be done only when institutions
enhance the culture of respect for human rights and national rights, a culture
which is a wider political democratic culture, embedded in the minds of
people, that others have equal rights, and understanding them in time, when
they are threatened or violated, by protecting them with legal means.
No further than August this year, the Ohrid Agreement will have its 9
th
anniversary, an agreement which put an end to the conflict between Albanian
fighters and Macedonian security forces. The Agreement aimed to protect the
territorial integrity of Macedonia, and to fulfil requirements of Albanians for
constitutional and legal changes in the sense of equality of Albanians with
Macedonians.
Analysts had initially evaluated this agreement to be a success not only
for Macedonia, but also as an example of diplomacy, which had brought
stability to this part of the region.
In fact, what was expected from the Ohrid Agreement, being viewed as
a document not only resolving the problems of the moment, but a framework
for resolving major challenges faced by Macedonia, in fact did not come. Its
effects, eight years after, have shown that this Agreement was a very important
document for ending the 2001 conflict, because the situation might have gone
someplace else, but it did not halt interethnic disagreements! The political
culture and engagement we have recorded, throughout these years, in
implementing the Ohrid Agreement, and especially in approving laws, have
targeted some of the concrete problems which needed to be solved in
protecting the country’s unity, and to progress in Euro-Atlantic integration.
At that time, the political analyst, Bruce Jackson, had considered the
Ohrid Agreement as an example of successful diplomacy which would be
beneficial to the whole region, looking at it as an agreement of accomplishment
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– a document which provided the foundations for integration of this southern
Balkan edge with the European institution. In a way, “by radiating stability
around Macedonia”. At that time, it was considered that the conflict in
Macedonia had found an unprepared West, which considered Macedonia to be
a “successful example of a multiethnic society in the region”. Nevertheless,
looking at political elites of Macedonia, and their hesitation in participating in
political activities because of the feeling of powerlessness of taking historical
political decisions for the country, forced the international community to
seriously engage in filling the political gap and preventing a wide-scale civil
war. They showed their persistence for a participatory, responsible and
accountable culture for the citizens. This culture implied their engagement for
basic values of a democratic society as common good, in respecting human
rights, national equality, rule of law, accountability, tolerance in diversity,
interethnic dialogue, etc. In such circumstances, the prime minister of that time,
Lubco Georgievski, head of the Macedonian opposition Social Democratic
Union, Branko Crvenkovski, the leader of the Albanian Democratic Party,
Arben Xhaferi and the president of the Party for Democratic Prosperty, Ymer
Ymeri, signed in Ohrid an agreement on a package of amendments to the
Constitution and laws in a way of fulfilling requirements of Albanians, as
parameters for a fair representation of Albanians (read: ethnic communities in
administration), language rights, and a framework for consolidation
(decentralization) of local government. Nevertheless, the division lines remain
frequent and changeable. Macedonia is still a country of a large divide between
Macedonian and Albanian ethnic communities. Being divided along language
and religion lines and a strong feeling of national and cultural identity,
communication between the two communities was limited in the most recent
decades. Florian Bieber stated that tensions between Albanians and
Macedonians have become a determining feature of the state since its creation.
The period between 1991 and 2001, had not resulted in any substantial
inclusion of the Albanians in public administration, and the state acted mainly
as a national state of the majority community. Although Albanians have been
involved in governments, the governmental system cannot be considered as
power sharing, but only as an effort to include the Albanian elites (....) in this
sense, Macedonia in the nineties was no exclusion from the rule of a national
state. Placement of national Macedonian symbols in the country was the key
response to multiple challenges, created by neighbouring countries for the
Macedonian state and its distinctiveness.
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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The main point of dispute was focused on the international relations of
the country, focussing on the matter of the name (with Greece), distinctiveness
of the Macedonian people and language (with Bulgaria) and the Macedonian
Orthodox Church (with Serbia).
13
In terms of use of symbols, Albanians and most of the other minorities
had not opposed the selection of state symbols. The new Macedonian
Constitution not only has set forth by the Preamble the domination of the
Macedonian people (where the state is described as a state of the Macedonian
people), but also in defining Macedonian as a state language, and in differing
the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
One must admit a decisive fact, that the Agreement was achieved under
the strong pressure of the international community, the US, the EU, etc. The EU
representative, Alain Le Rois, had the following statement on the Ohrid
Agreement: “For the international community, August 13
th
is still an important
date, because it shows how leaders of Macedonian parties were able to find a
compromise, which was, I must say, rather effective last year". He further adds:
"If we compare the conflict in Macedonia to all conflicts occurring in Balkan,
you can see how mature were the Macedonian parties, being able to find this
compromise". Nevertheless, after nine years, neither the Macedonian nor
Albanian politicians are happy with the compromise. Washington has appealed
on authorities in Macedonia to build upon these achievements, ensuring them
that the United States and the European Union shall continue to support peace,
dialogue, political culture and economic recovery in Macedonia.
The former head of EU Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, who had a key role
in mediating the agreement, was convinced that the Peace Agreement had
brought peace and greater stability to the Balkan Region. Although the
agreement is considered to be relatively successful, fields still requiring further
efforts include ethnic reconciliation, a culture of political participation which
implies activity and engagement in implementing approved laws, etc.
Also, during the last years in Macedonia, there have been debates on the
spirit of the Framework Agreement, which is first and foremost related to the
application of the so-called the “Badinter Rule” in formation of coalition
governments (with the involvement of the largest ethnic Albanian party), to
expand further in discussing other matters. The Ohrid Agreement was not an
agreement halting war efforts, but an agreement with which the Constitution of
Macedonia changes grounds. From a political model oriented towards the
classical idea of Westminster democracy, the amended Constitution
13
Florian Bieber, Ndarja e pushtetit dhe zbatimi i Marrëveshjes Kornizë të Ohrit”, botues: Friedrich-Ebert-
Stiftung, Shkup, 2008.
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transformed the structural regulation into a consensual democracy, with special
rules by which minor ethnic communities are protected from majority
domination in political fields. This publication aims to discuss whether this
Macedonian model of an agreement on division of power is an example of
strong or weak institutionalization of consensual democracy.
14
“Implementation of the Ohrid Agreement has not been satisfactory in
several fields”, stated Daniel Serwer, of the American Peace Institute. Serwer
claims clearly the fact that the “Agreement aimed to give voice to the Albanian
community, without denying the Macedonian community’s rights in doing
that”. International political analysts like Serwer have opposed these
“concerns” of Macedonian critics, stating that political and social stability
created by the Ohrid Agreement shall have a positive impact on strengthening
the civil society. He has remained convinced that this agreement has not
enlarged the ethnic divisions, since for some time Macedonians and Albanians
have been living in parallel and divided realities. Therefore, “this reality must
change and I believe it is changing gradually. Civil society is not built in a day,
this can only happen when democracy reaches a certain level of maturity”.
15
To this date, there is a strong conviction that the success of the
objectives of the Ohrid Agreement in preserving the integrity of Macedonia and
in creating a functional state of a multi-ethnic society is in hands of the
Macedonian leadership. But, many calls and appeals made to Macedonian
political forces, to quit concentrating on their own ethnic policies, and focus on
integrating principles of the Agreement, desired effects have not been
produced, or better said, we are far from such a reality. Now, we are aware that
we are in the stage of implementation of the legal framework, and not in the
approval stage anymore, and the Macedonian leadership has not shown and is
not showing any interest to focus on integrating aspects of the Ohrid
Agreement, to consolidate the national rights (ethnic communities).
The international factor has encouraged all governments to fully
implement the Ohrid Agreement, and has reiterated its commitment to further
support Macedonia in its Euro-Atlantic integration. But, Macedonia continues
to lag behind… the formerEU Foreign Policy and Security representative, Javier
Solana, several days before ending his term in office, he had once more
reiterated the view of Brussels, that “without resolving the matter of the name
with Greece, and without the full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement,
Macedonian steps towards EU membership cannot be made”.
16
Also, in terms
of political participation culture, it is worth mentioning also a message of the
14
Division of Power and implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (Ndarja e pushtetit dhe
zbatimi i Marrëveshjes Kornizë të Ohrit”), published: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Shkup, 2008
15
Daniel Serwer, American Peace Institute, August 2006
16
Javier Solana: Emri dhe Marrëveshja e Ohrit pastaj në BE, Bruksel, 14 maj 2009
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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official Brussels, stating that Macedonia should learn from the good practices of
the European Union in terms of use of languages, and improvement of use of
Albanian in education and Government”. This has largely been a message
coming once too often from the European Parliament (EP).
Last year, in the EP website, there was a report which included parts of
the report of the Euro-Deputy and Reporter on Macedonia, Erik Meyer, who
demanded the initiation of negotiations for Macedonian Membership in the EU
“in the shortest future, as soon as necessary conditions are met”. Amongst
these conditions, the report states that “Macedonia must admit the equal value
of languages of its citizens”. The EP recommends that Macedonia assigns
special care to education and public administration, so that all communities can
live in equality and harmony, and appeals on both larger linguistic groups
(Macedonians and Albanians, our remark), “to try and live in equality and
peace”. The Ohrid Agreement was thought to be the beginning of a new future
for Macedonia, and an agreement to regulate relations between Macedonians
and Albanians, and to establish foundations on which a new Macedonia would
be built, but to this date, it remains pawn to disagreements and violation of
timelines. Now, Macedonia must understand that it must be a state of justice
for all its citizens, and must not have existential problems in terms of
interethnic matters. The Ohrid Agreement has not been fully implemented,
because it is felt by the Macedonians to be a failure.
Ultimately, “neither yesterday, nor today, neither Macedonian nor
Albanian politicians seem to be that happy with the compromise they
achieved!”
17
Today, there is no common stand on the Ohrid Agreement. The
Macedonian side sees it as an imposed agreement, which is not for the benefit
of Macedonia, while the Albanian side sees the Ohrid Agreement as a political
objective, and a document which may balance the political arena in Macedonia
and the equality of citizens, despite their ethnic differences. Different views on
political culture after the Ohrid Agreement, and the events in 2001, continue to
keep Macedonia under ‘political tension’, while the agreement is still fully
supported by international representatives, by which it was also achieved.
In the meantime, the Macedonian authorities do not take any action in
explaining to citizens that this Agreement is beneficial for all. This one action
can be taken immediately, to educate people on the grounds of democracy, and
for the coming generations to have an opportunity to do something with it.
This has made the Albanian political elites to come up with voices “which have
often stated that the Ohrid Agreement is being replaced with various
agreements between Macedonian and Albanian partners of the government
coalition. The Ohrid Agreement was thought to be the beginning of a new
17
Demush Bajrami, kolumna “Korniza” pa fotografi!, Koha, Shkup, 23.06.2011
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future for Macedonia, but everything remained pawn to disagreements and
violation of timelines. Macedonia must understand that it must be a state of
justice for all its citizens, and must not have existential problems in terms of
interethnic matters. After ten years, there is no common stand on the Ohrid
Agreement”. The EU, the US and Albanians have underlined the need for
reforms and implementation of the Ohrid Agreement. I know that it will be no
news, and I will repeat myself, that no economic program can bring about
progress without political stability. First, open political matters should be
resolved. Further, of course there will be economic progress. Ultimately, if
Macedonia does not observe its agreements, it will lose its chance for
membership with NATO and the European Union… this is also reflected by the
poor willingness of the political elites to listen to others, or no will to argue
with the force of argument”!
18
The Progress Report for Macedonia in 2011 continues its critical tones on the
lack of reforms in justice, public administration, fight against corruption and
the situation of media. The missing solution on the matter of the name with
Greece remains at the centrepiece of EU membership processes. But, the
freedom of expression and media divided along ethnic and political lines have
also been mentioned. Some of the EU Progress Report recommendations for
Macedonia are:
- Government should be stable, to resolve problems with democratic
cooperation,
- Do more in implementing reforms as required by the European Union
- Demand dialogue on problematic issues in interethnic relations
- Decentralization must be assigned more attention
- Further efforts must be made to ensure professionalism and transparent
independence in public administration,
- Reform of the judiciary system
- Combat corruption which is spread into many areas,
- Slow progress in improving treatment and degrading conditions in
prisons
- Undue political intrusions with the media,
- Limited involvement of civil society in political developments,
19
etc.
Despite efforts to preserve a somewhat non-discriminatory balance to
manage diversity, there are still deficiencies in civil competency and social
capital. There is a low level of effective civil participation and political trust,
which enables the continuation of implementing diversity policies.
18
Ibid
19
http://www.albeu.com/maqedoni/raporti-i-ke-priten-kritika-per-maqedonine/
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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Robert D. Putnam, born in 1940, an American political scientist and
commentator, has addressed and studied political culture, by emphasizing the
special importance of “social capital”: the level of trust and cooperation in
society. The political culture had been placed at the heart of the strategy for
development of the democratic system, and consists of the main statement for
the future. It is obvious that the quality of the system of values is the grounds
for development of civil society, equality, freedom, interethnic tolerance. This
requires focus on the full national equality between the two largest ethnic
communities in Macedonia, Macedonians and Albanians. This does not mean
one can allow the rule of unbound political oligarchies, or governance at any
cost with the help of mythological creations, erosion of values, etc. Andrea
Liphard, in the Dutch example, developed a further type of political culture,
which considers the relations between the elites and the masses, and not only
the type of pluralism and mechanisms of conflict settlement between groups
and embedded blocks. This model of Liphard, enables a “stable democracy and
strong fragmentation of the society’.
20
Meanwhile, to provide a more comprehensive and full overview of our
approach to the paper, one must provide an explanation of politics as a notion.
Hence, politics, according to Andrew Heywood, is an art of governance, a
public matter, a compromise and consensus, but also politics as power and
distribution of resources
21
. In explicating the political background, Robert A
Dahl, thinks that participation in a modern political system is characterized by
“rivalry or competition between the government and opposition, which is an
important aspect of democratization and public opposition”.
22
The political
parties, as a voluntary political union of citizens around a permanent
organization, to create and shape state policies by building onto political will of
the citizens, selecting candidates for public functions, and drafting political
programs, and other activities, are necessary for democratic systems. The role
of political parties in a democracy, or in the governance system, would find an
embedded and a more concise explanation in the definition of Max Weber, who
says in his definition of political parties that they are “children of democracy
and general vote”.
23
Elections are often considered to be the heart of a political
process. Elections are nothing less of democracy in practice, and are a means by
which the citizens can control government, says Heywood. In countries with a
strong presidential system, it is specifically important to limit the timeline of
rule of senior state officials. In this limitation, there is term governance, where
20
Liphard A. Comparative Political Science, Typologyes of Democratic Systems, 1968
21
Andrew Heywood, Politics (Politika), Tirana, 2008
22
Robert A Dahl, Polyachry – participation and opposition (“Poliakria - pjesëmarrja dhe opozita”), Pegi,
Tirana, 2005
23
Daniel-Louis Seiler, Political parties (Partitë politike), Tiranë 2000
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the same (elected) person cannot be president of the country for more than two
times. At this point, Montesquieu states that in democracy, the people realize
its sovereignty through its vote, which are an expression of its will. This thesis
is further supported by M. Prélot, 1963, according to whom the people in the
modern sense is consolidated at elections. Political legitimacy and stability in
modern political debate is less taken as a moral obligation, and more as a
political behaviour and trust.
Now, there is a question whether modern societies are characterised by
free competition between values and ideas, or characterized by a “dominating
culture”. Beliefs, symbols and values of the people structure their attitudes
against the political process, meaning the manner they see the regime they live
in – when the people consider their regime as fair or legitimate. Political culture
is understood as an orientation of people towards political objects, such as
parties, governments, constitution, expressions in beliefs, symbols and values
24
.
Here comes handy a statement by Jean Jacques Rousseau: “the strong are never
sufficiently strong, unless when turning the right into power and conviction
into an assignment”.
25
Perception may be better and more important than
reality, and therefore the model of the political culture of a dominating
ideology may also expand the level of homogeneity of values and beliefs of
modern societies. Political scholars have agreed so far on the vital role of the
values and beliefs in promoting stability and survival of a regime. Andrew
Heywood says that it is not about why the people have to obey the state, but
because they do it, they obey a certain state or governing system.
How would a state be organized to be fair, good and harmonious?
Aristotle thought that it was bad and specifically problematic to have a
democracy form in which the masses would rule, and not the law. He blames
the demagogues for this. They, according to him, “are to be blamed that the
decisions of the people have larger power than the law, because they transfer
all the rights to the people. In this manner, they become even more powerful,
because the supreme power is with the people, and they have a strong
influence on the thoughts of the people, because the people listen to them”.
Rule of law instead of human rule, he stated.
26
Also, a specific role in creation of political culture is left to the language,
as a means of human communication and as a factor related to the political life
of a society. Different countries, different people, and even different social
groups are first identified by the language and phrases they use. Socio-
linguistics is today the most important means in processing incorporated
24
Andrew Heywood, Politics (Politika), Tirana, 2008
25
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract (Kontrata sociale), 1962
26
Michael Rowsend and Jonathan Wolf Political Thought (Mendimi politik), Universiteti Ufo, Tirana,
2007
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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messages, especially when it is about regional, continental or wider
interventions to the favour of creating relations between information and
communication. The language, as a primary technique of communication, says
Sapir, was almost unavoidable until the appearance of the capitalist society,
which would initiate a secondary explosion of communication means.
Humanity has never been closer to each other, due to the creation of
possibilities for trans-continental transfer of information. Here, Heywood,
provides his argument that the media, by a combination of societal and
technological changes, have become political actors, increasingly stronger and
embedded into the political process. Development of journalism and
parliamentary life has open the door to democracy, thereby creating a time for
a massive creation of an information consumption area, thereby marking a
boom in secondary communication. The Earth, as stated by Makluan, in fact
has transformed into a “global village”. In this global world, there is an area of
“current” billions of pieces of information. There is a need though for rules in
terms of objectivity. Macedonia is still a country of politically dependent media.
This is found by the American organization "Freedom House" (FH). Simply
stated, as much as the government influences public broadcasters, or influences
the appointment of directors, larger is the need for rules, objectivity and
equality. Similar situations are more or less seen in other countries of SEE,
where opposition parties call systematically for imposing strict rules on
objective representation. These rules would not be necessary if the parties in
rule would not exert that much control on the public broadcasters. The case of
Macedonia continues to stall, and no improvement is made in terms of
impartiality and media balance and professionalism, closely related to the
independence of journalists and managers.
Ultimately, everything that was stated could be summarized in short,
and here we find the views of Isak Adize, who thinks that it is difficult for a
democratic system to implement decisions on public policies, decisions which
require changes
27
. He goes further in elaborating his thesis by concluding that
the political system, which does not allow a rapid realization of decisions, by
disallowing discussion, debate or questioning, may be defined as a totalitarian
country. This shows the fact that essential changes in political priorities must
have the required care for war and violence victims, the care for children and
the elderly, sustainable development, development of a political consensus,
decentralization and power division, including participatory democracy,
democracy of social justice, generation of new jobs, and national and gender
equality. Only something similar to this would contribute the development of a
27
. Isak Adizes “Zotërimi i ndryshimeve”, Shkup, 1996
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strong political background built upon requirements for full equality. The fall
of the Berlin wall and many political changes and events taking place in the last
two decades may be a lesson for the Western Balkan, especially in terms of
policy-making and respect for democracy, which definitely must imply the
enhancement of political culture according to the Western models.
Dr. sc. Jonuz Abdullai, Mr. Demush Bajrami
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