1 When Prime Minister Zoran Zaev opened a debate for a broad coalition and the possibility of VMRO-DPMNE becoming part of the government, I thought he needed their support for something revolutionary. That perhaps we’d invest a lot of money in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine which will be efficient even against some kind of an autochthonous Macedonian variant of the virus. Or, that we’d indebt the world with a development of a cure for Covid. Or that SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE will finally reach a consensus for some revolutionary strategies for the development of our country. That they’d open a lot of important issues from the fields of energetics, saving the waters, the global warming…who knew what he was up to. Then, it turns out it was about sharing the party employments. Once and for all.
Here’s Zaev idea about the departization of the public administration and the judiciary: “If both parties are part of the Government, SDSM and VMRO won’t be able to particize the administration. Yes, people from both SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE will be employed, but only the ones who will win the competition as the best candidate, according to the criteria, according to the norms. Clientelism in the judiciary and the public administration will be gone once everyone’s in the government. Once everyone’s in there they won’t have to act as clients to anyone, and they won’t have to humour anyone.”
For crying out loud, how many more people must be employed in the public administration for you to be satisfied? Are you aware there are other people in this country? The employments are just one thing. What’s even more terrifying is that Zaev said that without batting an eye. As if it’s perfectly normal. A shameless admission that the competitions are won only by members of the parties. That the country is the parties’ loot, so let us now agree on how to share the spoils.
What’s the message the prime minister sends to the people who are not members of any party and who are addressed to only before elections, because their votes are decisive for the win? That they too should get a party membership card? Or maybe they don’t have to. As long as they keep paying their taxes. I really thought Zaev asked VMRO-DPMNE to govern together for the common good. For everyone’s sake. And not so they could give employment and a state salary to the lackeys putting up their posters and the bad students. Because those who are qualified, either leave or their qualifications are appreciated more in private companies. But, as it’s become normal for them to separate the country between “ours” and “yours” I wouldn’t be surprised if they did reach consensus. They are well on their way to pass a law which will force private companies to employ people with party membership cards.
2 The announced campaign on the fight against corruption will make as much sense as the sentence which was adopted at a government session: “The educational campaign will be characterized by the proportionality and rationality in the appropriate usage of the resources, which will guarantee that the invested funds and resources will be allocated in an effective way to give rise to an appropriate social change, which is undoubtedly necessary.”
What you’ve just read makes as much sense as the situation where Dragi Rashkovski gives an idea for software, and the Government buys the software for 81.000 euros, while that same guy Rashkovski is the Secretary-General of the Government. The software was bought for the needs of the Ministry of Interior Affairs. The Ministry of Interior Affairs doesn’t need it. And Prime Minister Zaev says that someone definitely needed the software if they’ve purchased it. Rashkovski even got offended because he was being bashed for having good ideas.
In the government’s campaign on the fight against corruption, as well as in the “Europe at Home” campaign, this is explained as “the appropriate usage of the resources, which will guarantee that the invested funds and resources will be allocated in an effective way to give rise to an appropriate social change, which is undoubtedly necessary.”
Translated into Macedonian that means that – there’s no running away from the fight against corruption. Now, under the pressure of the campaign, Oliver Spasovski will have to find a use to the software that he didn’t know even existed.
3 Since Rashkovski had an idea for traffic-violations software for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, how come he didn’t think of some kind of software for a register of taxpayers in the Municipality of Arachinovo? Unlike the Ministry of Interior Affairs, which doesn’t need the software, Arachinovo indeed will. For four years SDSM have had their own mayor in Arachinovo, and the municipality hasn’t collected a single denar from the property tax. The Government even gave them half a million euros from the state budget. You know, as pocket money. It’s not like they don’t need the money – they sure do. But, they should have put some money aside to contribute for themselves. They could have at least paid for their municipality. How do those people buy and sell property? How do they take out a property title? In some other parts of the country you can’t even transfer the ownership of a property with an old, unpaid TV bill.
I am anxious to see Zaev spinning the yarn about the progressive tax. How social-demoratic it is, how just, how fair the taxation… They say, it’s like in Germany, like in Sweden… Alright, we get it. It’s a just tax. But that’s the case in a country which collects its money from everyone. Let them try and find a province in Germany, where people pay neither the property tax, nor the VAT. And let them not try to get away with it by playing the “nationality” card. Over there, Angela Merkel doesn’t make excuses that she can’t collect the tax in half of the country, because “there’s violence.” I’m just not buying it that the taxation is fair in a country where there are first-class citizens – who don’t pay, but make the most of the country, and second-class citizens – who pay, but don’t make the most of the country? He isn’t taxing the property tax, and you expect him to tax the labour tax!?
SDSM should run the next elections with the slogan: “Destroy the righteous, drive out the successful.”
4 There aren’t any vaccines. They’re late and who knows when they’ll arrive. The Government made a mistake. They trusted WHO and their Covax system and swore by the EU solidarity.
The thing is that, we’re yet to assess whether they were capable or incapable. This is a war. It’s a world war. You go to work, you come back home and you’re afraid that one closest to you might kill you. In a war, lives are lost, people get poor, they lose their jobs, the propaganda drives you crazy, all sorts of profiteers try to deceive you… And everyone buys weapons. They’re in a hurry to be the first to develop it, to be the first to make the most powerful one, to be the first to procure it. Now, vaccines are the weapon. The countries that have the vaccines are weighing up their weapon. The EU is losing the battle against the USA and the UK, Russia isn’t standing idly by, China is blackmailing you about which companies you are allowed to work with, Biden says we’ll give you vaccines when we’re done with ours… Everything got mixed up. Everyone is doing their best to get by.
How do you imagine a public procurement call during wartime looks like? Please, deliver us the cheapest and the finest weapon at your earliest convenience. And then we’ll wait for the appeal procedure to be over and we’ll sign an agreement.
During wartime everyone is doing their best to cheat death. And it’s not funny that Zaev tried to procure vaccines through diplomacy and through the secret service agencies. Israel paid Russia 1.2 million dollars to send vaccines in Syria to be traded with a prisoner. Who made that happen? The Facebook community?
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
