1 It’s alarming to see how many more police officers, inspectors, shift supervisors, and customs officers will be fined or dismissed by the time these guys from the “VLEN” Coalition stop milking their new positions. Are we really expected to use our money to fund them until they grow into their roles?
Naturally, the shift supervisor at the “Blace” border crossing is held accountable for the passenger registration system being inactive for several minutes while a wedding procession of six vehicles, four of which were government-owned, was passing through. The procession was led by the President of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi. He was in a company car, accompanied by three police vehicles and two private cars, all filled with wedding guests on their way to the bride’s home in Kosovo.
The “VLEN” Coalition says that “it’s customary to visit the bride’s home, just like in Macedonian weddings.” Well, it’s also customary to show your passport at the border. Actually, that’s the wrong word, it’s not customary, it’s the law. And, Gashi broke that law.
The cabinet of their coalition partner in the Government, VMRO-DPMNE, stated that Gashi, as the president of the Assembly, is entitled to a police escort. Plus, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that “Gashi is better than his predecessor, Talat Xhaferi.” Those statements automatically grant him the right to cross the border without having to confirm his identity, along with the in-laws travelling with him. They could have taken Blerim Ramadani as one of the in-laws and no one would have questioned it. Never mind that he’s accused of war crimes in Kosovo, wanted by Interpol, and that he escaped from “guest house arrest” while awaiting a court verdict on his extradition to Serbia. They would’ve let him fly the Albanian flag through the window, to honour the custom.
Who knows, maybe to avoid such misunderstandings within the government coalition, Mickoski will suggest accompanying Gashi as one of the in-laws the next time he heads to a wedding in Kosovo, so they’d cross the border together. The same way he proposed accompanying Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani through security procedures before her next flight from Skopje Airport, so Gashi wouldn’t need to send his security with cocked guns.
Around the world, only the British monarch and the Japanese emperor and empress cross borders without passports. All other monarchs carry passports to identification purposes. Even the Pope has a passport. Gashi is the only one who doesn’t need to prove his identity. And perhaps, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani. Who knows if her escort was even registered when they passed through the “Blace” border crossing on her way to Skopje Airport. But let’s hope Minister of Internal Affairs Panche Toshkovski doesn’t start reviewing the cameras, or another shift supervisor might take the fall. Back when these guys from VLEN were part of DUI, they at least had the decency to blame the tow truck for incidents involving police officers. They’ve now evolved in the field of holding people accountable, so they blame the police officers directly. Aren’t they sorry for the people?
Mickoski tends to say: The people playing by their own rules are gone. Yet, there’s a new sheriff in town – Gashi.
But then again, is it really worth breaking up a coalition over two passport controls?
2 If Gashi, as the President of the Assembly, fails to understand the importance of mandatory control and identification, and Mickoski justifies it because “he’s better than Talat Xhaferi,” then it sets a new standard for Albanian politicians in the government to act like cowboys. In that case, why would Macedonian politicians settle for anything less?
And if that happens, we’re in for a world of hurt.
3M P and former Minister of Defence Slavjanka Petrovska requested protection from the Ministry of Internal Affairs after receiving threats on social media by people publishing photos of her walking her dog near her home, following her announcement that the suspects of the murder at the “Mavrovka” mall in Skopje had escaped from prison.
I haven’t noticed any support from SDSM for Petrovska, who was a candidate for party president but withdrew, citing irregularities in the party’s elections. Nor did anyone show solidarity with her. Where are her fellow MPs, her party friends? What do they think? That if they stay silent now, the same thing won’t happen to them in the future? Have they already forgotten the threats of “making the front pages,” “the independent productions” on TV channels where they were depicted with nails stuck in their faces simply because they were someone’s political opponents, being marked with red circles on social media, the smear campaigns, the calls for violence, and the insults from anonymous profiles…Perhaps they’ve forgotten even the mass wiretapping.
Or maybe they’re too busy preparing for the reporting congress they failed to hold. They’re still getting acquainted with the resources. By the time they wake up, VMRO-DPMNE and “VLEN” will pass several other laws like the one on urban planning, which President Gordana Siljanovska – Dakova signed despite the opposition of around twenty NGOs, because “the opposition didn’t have any amendments and there was no discussion.” Meanwhile, they’re also trying to figure out how to connect the upcoming holiday of the Dormition of the Mother of God with the 8th of September without undermining their constructiveness as an opposition.
4 To address the chaos in Skopje caused by Mayor Danela Arsovska, who was a candidate supported by VMRO-DPMNE, Prime Minister Mickoski said that he’ll ask the councillors at the next session to vote in favour of her programmes.
“If it’s about the programmes, but it’s not,” Mickoski said, and he claims that: “Here, I’ll show you that it won’t change a thing.”
Why haven’t VMRO-DPMNE councillors in the City of Skopje voted for the programmes of their own candidate for a year? It is because they’re bad? If they are indeed bad, why would they vote for them now? Because the leader has asked them to? And why would they even do as he says considering he himself admits nothing would change. Because the leader tells them to do that? To prove that she’s no good, despite previously lying to the citizens of Skopje that she was the best manager.
It’s embarrassing that they’ve exposed the fact they don’t think for themselves and that they’re just a voting machine. What’s even more embarrassing is that they’ve exposed the fact that they don’t give a damn about the public interest.
5 In a police bulleting a few days ago, it was reported that a 39-year-old man was caught smoking marijuana at Sredno Vodno.
There’s still no information whether they’ve caught the killers of the doctor who was found stabbed in the parking lot in front of the hospital in Skopje where he had his practice.
It seems the doctor’s killers didn’t smoke marijuana. How can the police catch them if they don’t smoke weed.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
