Over here, there’s too much drama about every single thing. And that drama has to be ethnic. It’s the same case with the census that will be carried out in April. Everything has to revolve around catastrophic fantasies, around treasons, around the end of the world. So, in order to prevent that, VMRO-DPMNE will mobilize their membership to sign to annul the Census law. Through their MP Arber Ademi, DUI even threatened not to approve the results of the census if it turns out that Albanians are under 20%.

All over the world, the census is a regular statistical operation of factual enumeration of everything there is in a country, in order to carry out development plans. Only here, the census is understood as an operation done exclusively for the enumeration of Macedonians and Albanians.

If that’s the case, then, why bother conducting a census. If both the president Stevo Pendarovski and the prime minister Zoran Zaev are saying that nobody intends to meddle with the acquired rights of Albanians, and if DUI are saying they won’t approve the census if it turns out they’re under 25%, while VMRO-DPMNE are to do the same if it turns out Albanians are over 25%, then let them get down to business and seal the bargain. Since they use the census to focus on the ethnic, and not the factual need of enumeration, let’s at least not waste money. Here, let’s shake on it. Let them be 22.5%.

How come no one got upset and said they wouldn’t approve the results if, for example, it turns out that there are fewer kindergartens, schools and hospitals than necessary according to the number of citizens and the age composition? How come no one threatened to annul the census if it turns out that the number of civil servants is disproportionately higher than the citizens living in that municipality? How come no one cared that without the data of the census the country can’t plan the development? But, who cares about the plans of the country? What matters is how the party plans to hire employees in the government sector if they win the elections.

The census is a basic mathematical operation.  Two plus two equals four. That’s why it’s really confusing why the result of the enumeration has to eventually be verified with dual signatures – a Macedonian and an Albanian one. What does that mean? That one of them is allowed not to sign if two plus two equals four, because the party and the ethnic sum should show it’s five!?

Nikola Gruevski and Ali Ahmeti were accused by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of arranging to cancel the census in 2011 and by doing that cost the country 14 million euros. But, as a result of the new law the information “bombs” are no longer valid and the case was canceled and closed due to lack of evidence. Ali Ahmeti gets a second chance to reoffend.

We still don’t have the COVID-19 vaccines. Nor does anyone know when vaccination will start here. It turns out that we can’t even bring the ones Serbia offered to us.

I don’t really understand the procedures for bringing medicinal products into the country. Neither when they should be registered, nor how the registration is done, nor what emergency importation means, nor whether they should be bought by public procurement or direct negotiations, nor what MALMED is, nor which party the director of MALMED is a member of, nor if there is or isn’t a branch of a pharmaceutical company here, nor if they’ll have to or not have to change laws… Why would an ordinary citizen know all these things? The fact is that there aren’t any vaccines, not even for a symbolic start of the vaccination process.

If they had to urgently find a director-level position for a DUI member and to trade places with employees from SDSM or vice versa, it would already be a done deal, they’d be cutting cakes in their offices. In this country, parties make their lists of employments in state institutions more diligently than the planning for the vaccines procurement was done. How is it possible that we just found out that there should be changes in the law, when we’ve been talking about vaccines since last year, since March.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m aware that all over Europe there are problems with the vaccination. But, unlike us, they don’t have a problem with their own laws and institutions. They have a problem with the deliveries by “Pfizer”. We have a problem with ourselves.

Knowing the temperament of the political elites, I find it hard to believe and to accept the statements made by Aerodrom Municipality, Skopje, which nine months before the local elections announces a series of projects displaying the European flag.

The mayor Zlatko Marin, announced in the last year of his term that in order to realize the projects, a public company for development projects of local importance would be formed.

Out of all the announced projects I believe this one will certainly come to fruition. They’ve given it such a lovely name, Public company for blooming a thousand flowers. New public company  – new employments. Aerodrom will be in full bloom. As soon as we provide a position for yet another proven party member to suck on the public teat.

The mayor of Saray Municipality, Blerim Bedzeti, in the last few months of his term released a project for a free tourism zone at Lake Treska.

The Lake Treska complex was built with the voluntary contribution of the citizens of Skopje in the 1970’s. It used to tick all the boxes – a lake, small swimming pools, a beach, changing cabins, a warehouse for small boats, a restaurant, showers, lifeguards… plus, it was designed to meet world class standards. Unfortunately, as in the case with a lot of other buildings of that time, this complex has been entirely abandoned since the country gained its independence.

Bedzeti is also known for having threatened to initiate a referendum whether to legalize the illegal platforms in the protected area of Matka. It seems that this project for a free tourism zone will probably be the freest. Everyone will be free to build wherever they want. Apparently, there would be hotels. As if people will spend their summer holidays at Lake Treska. They’ll build residential buildings and malls on the lakefront, surrounded by nature.

What’s sad is that what was once abandoned as an urban complex will now be destroyed as nature. And the saddest thing of all is that they are selling us that destruction as development.

Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski