MEDIA MIRROR, November 2007: The Government is Generating Crises and Leads Weak Foreign Policy

on Jan 8, 08 • by NVO Infocentar •

According to the media, the instability and the crisis in the political processes in Macedonia, the disorientation of the Government and the unstable internal relations of the ruling coalition result from a combination of several negative factors: a) the asymetric relations between the partners in the Government (with emphasis on the claim that Gruevski is held hostage by Thaqi); b) the scandal surrounding the failed attempt to sell the "Negotino” thermoelectric power plant; and, c) the disablity to harmonize the individual parties’ interests during the completion of appointments for the National Judicial Council...

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Home » Media Monitoring » MEDIA MIRROR, November 2007: The Government is Generating Crises and Leads Weak Foreign Policy

According to the media, the instability and the crisis in the political processes in Macedonia, the disorientation of the Government and the unstable internal relations of the ruling coalition result from a combination of several negative factors: a) the asymetric relations between the partners in the Government (with emphasis on the claim that Gruevski is held hostage by Thaqi); b) the scandal surrounding the failed attempt to sell the “Negotino” thermoelectric power plant; and, c) the disablity to harmonize the individual parties’ interests during the completion of appointments for the National Judicial Council.

On the fistfights in the Sobranie, several media weren’t quite sure if Government authorities truly let the situation escape their control, or had some other effect in mind, leaving the impression of being unable to control the confusing and inefficient parliament.

Some media believe that the scandal in the Sobranie is a natural consequence ofthe overall situation in the country, i.e. the political situation in Macedonia createdafter the 2006 Parliamentary Elections. Most media, however, put the blame on thepermanent confrontational policies of the Prime Minister Gruevski and the rulingmajority (in this particular case, the aggression of Menduh Thaqi, Refet Elmazi andAbdulhadi Vejseli), while the remaining minority of media believes that the conflictsarise from the conflict of the two leading political parties of Macedonian Albanians -DPA and DUI. Only two media put the whole responsibility on DUI (and its MP Sadula Duraku), and in part on SDSM.

The media were also very much interested in the fierce diplomatic offensive by Greece, both in Europe and in the US, against Macedonia. The media returned the favour in kind and strongly criticized the attacks of the Greek propaganda, but didn’t spare the domestic political elite, the Government in particular, from criticism.

Most media believe that the integration processes have been degraded significantly.They are afraid that the inadequate actions of the domestic political elites will have negative impact on Macedonia’s plans to join NATO (after the downward turn ofevents regarding relations with the EU). The processes for Macedonian integration into EU and NATO were overshadowed by the fistfights erupting in the Sobranie. Inmost cases, when locating the political responsibility, majority of the media explicitly pointed out at the Government as the entity responsible for the failed attempts to meet the requirements for EU and NATO membership.

Media Mirror, November 2007 – PDF version (194KB)