1Here’s the opportunity for the Government to make radical changes to the system. However, they shouldn’t expect us to praise them simply for initiating inspections, which they describe as a “robust action,” meaning they are conducting a large-scale check of all licences, illegal buildings, extensions, unsecured construction sites, permits, and fire protection systems, and maybe they’ll begin addressing excessive noise. That was their responsibility long before the unimaginable tragedy in Kochani on the night of March 15-16, where 59 young people died, 6 of whom were children. It’s obvious they hadn’t been doing their job.
It’s high time this government stopped blaming its predecessors. No one’s denying that the SDSM-DUI coalition is to blame. But then again, VMRO-DPMNE and VLEN have held a stable governing majority for nine months. And VMRO-DPMNE has been in control of local government in 42 municipalities for three and a half years. Or, is that a subject we’re not supposed to bring up? Were their mayors and councillors unaware of what was happening right under their noses? Who was the head of their inspectors? Were local bosses and thugs, the so-called investors, so invisible that they went unnoticed by the mayors, councillors, dozens other officials, heads of various municipal services, and even the local police and the local prosecutors? They didn’t need to wait for a tip-off to act. Every day, on their way to work, they pass by illegal buildings springing up overnight, they sip coffee in unregistered buildings, and, until the “robust action,” their children were going out to unlicensed clubs.
That’s exactly why the Government has an opportunity. Let it leave no stone unturned. Let it change all the laws, regulations, and bylaws that have been designed over the years to ignore the rights of citizens and help criminals, creating the illusion that everything was done according to the law. And – let it implement them in practice. They mustn’t aim to wear us down like all previous governments have over the past 30 years, only for us to be writing two years from now that the trial was postponed, that the judge fell ill, that a translation wasn’t provided, that a juror retired, or that the case is travelling from the Basic Court to the Appeals Court… In other words, they shouldn’t make it appear as though everything’s done according to the law, while we all know it’s a sham.
And so on, until another disaster strikes.
2 Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski started his first press conference after the Kochani tragedy by speaking about how he personally feels. Given that, it’s now completely inappropriate for the Government to tell us how we should feel, how we should grieve, whether we should protest, how to protest, what questions we’re allowed to ask… For the love of God, just few days before the fire, Mickoski himself was rallying people for a protest march against five members of the Judicial Council, whose names we don’t even know, and now they’re implying that when it comes to 59 victims and over 200 injured, it’s not the time for protests.
We should all keep a close eye on the Government. And it should be grateful for that, if it wants to see this whole situation through. Not just the investigation, but the overhaul of the entire corrupt system.
I’d be happy if the government, which holds a super-stable parliamentary majority, used its power to make radical changes for good governance. However, I’d be extremely unhappy if it used that power to suppress protests, differing opinions, and prevent people from being properly informed. It wasn’t that long ago that journalists were labelled, photos of those with differing views were circled in red, the secret wiretapping, and the nails stuck on photos in TV shows of all those who criticised the VMRO-DPMNE government under Nikola Gruevski.
If the current VMRO-DPMNE does that, it means they haven’t learned the lesson from Kochani. And these 59 victims have died in vain.
At the moment, the Government has a carte blanche if it truly wants to make a change. And it has the opportunity to set things right in one go, without having to justify itself to criminals for doing so. If it genuinely wants to free itself from the 30-year captivity of criminals, there will never be a better moment to say: Enough is enough!
3 After all, someone has to keep the Government in check since the Assembly refuses to do so. MPs unanimously granted themselves two weeks off. It’s one thing that they skipped the parliamentary questions session to avoid conflict, but it’s another that the President of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi, didn’t even call the MPs for a commemorative session. They could have gathered, claimed their travel expenses, and taken a moment of silence. Not just out of respect for the victims, but out of respect for the voters.
However, the MPs have long, long lost respect for those who elect them. They only have respect for the party leaders who place them higher on the electoral lists. Instead of them being the bosses of the ministers, because they elect them, the Government has become their boss instead.
Since MPs are just ordinary party followers, it’s probably best for Parliament to meet only when the Government is to be elected. It merely formally votes on the laws proposed by the Government anyway, and doesn’t accept laws proposed by the opposition. And even if the current government dislikes a previously passed law, MPs will simply vote for an authentic interpretation that suits the Government.
The fact that the Assembly isn’t working for two weeks isn’t a great loss. They do more harm if they work.
I remember, two or three years ago, we worked our fingers to the bone, writing about how the Constitutional Court wasn’t complete. We thought it was a great shame that the country didn’t have a Constitutional Court. And finally, when the court was completed, the first thing the constitutional judges did was increase their salaries and the salaries of other officials by 78 percent.
That’s why I don’t see what the big deal is about MPs taking two weeks off. They don’t work for the citizens’ interests anyway. They work solely for their own interests. And they don’t even have to show up to work.
4Reading the announcements from Parliament explaining the two-week holiday, I couldn’t help but think: Is something wrong with us, or with them? First, they wasted time coming up with an excuse for not working, and then even more time trying to convince us that their excuse was reasonable.
These are the actions of the Assembly regarding the country’s biggest disaster:
On March 17, we were told that “the President of the Assembly proposed, and the coordinators of all parliamentary groups present unanimously adopted the conclusion that all activities of the Assembly scheduled and planned for this week are cancelled.”
On March 24, we were told that “they unanimously agreed, taking into account the feelings of all citizens following the tragedy in Kochani, expressing respect for all those who died and hoping for the speedy recovery of the injured, that the Assembly cancel all activities planned for this working week, including a briefing with journalists.”
On March 25, they started scolding us – “Regarding the inaccurate information and widespread accusations about the postponement of the Assembly’s work last week and this week” – and persistently explained that “the temporary postponement of the Assembly’s activities was a gesture of respect for the tragedy in Kochani, where young people lost their lives, and an expression of solidarity with the families of the victims and all citizens affected by this catastrophe,” and reiterated that “this decision is not the result of any individual or unilateral political decision-making, but rather a reflection of the common institutional will of all parliamentary groups to act with sensitivity during a time of national mourning.”
On March 26, they scolded us once again, saying that “any statement suggesting that MPs are taking a break is a violation of the reputation of the Assembly and the people’s representatives.”
So, the reputation of the Assembly is damaged if you ask why the MPs are taking time off, but it’s not damaged if the MPs are not working.
Credit where credit’s due: there was one activity they successfully carried out without being at each other’s throats. They opened a book of condolence in the Assembly.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
