Posted on 11/15/2004 6:28:48 AM PST by Jane_N
SKOPJE (AFP) - Macedonian Prime Minister Hari Kostov submitted his resignation to parliament, citing policy disputes and a lack of "teamwork" within the ruling coalition in the former Yugoslav republic.
"I resign as prime minister as there is no will in the coalition for genuine teamwork aimed at crucial goals," Kostov told reporters Monday.
Kostov said he had sent a letter of resignation to parliament speaker Ljupce Jordanovski. The parliament will meet on Thursday to decide whether to accept the resignation.
In the letter, the prime minister indirectly accused the ethnic Albanian party in the coalition, run by former rebel political leader Ali Ahmeti, of working only in the interests of the minority community.
Macedonia is still implementing EU-backed reforms under the 2001 Ohrid peace accords, which ended seven months of violence between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and government forces.
If parliament accepts the resignation, President Branko Crvenkovski will ask Kostov's Social Democratic Union to select a new prime minister.
Analysts said Kostov's move was expected as he had been locked in disputes with coalition partners over various political and economic issues.
"The government has a low political culture. Party interests and loyalty cannot be above state interests," said analyst Ljubomir Frckoski.
"No one is listening to what the prime minister proposes, but what their party wants," he said.
"In the letter, the prime minister indirectly accused the ethnic Albanian party in the coalition, run by former rebel political leader Ali Ahmeti, of working only in the interests of the minority community."
The latest report on the PM's resignation:
Macedonian Prime Minister Hari Kostov resigns over disagreements with ethnic Albanian coalition partners
Monday November 15, 2004
By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES
Associated Press Writer
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) Macedonia's prime minister Hari Kostov resigned Monday over disagreements with ethnic Albanian coalition partners, setting off a government crisis in the Balkan state where ethnic tensions run high.
Hari Kostov, who became prime minister in May, accused the Albanian Union for Integration Party of promoting partisan interests, nepotism and corruption, and submitted his resignation to the paliament speaker.
Ermira Mehmeti, spokeswoman for the ethnic Albanian party, said the group was ``surprised'' by Kostov's resignation and the accusations against them.
Kostov's resignation needs approval in Parliament, which will meet Thursday. If the resignation is acccepted, President Branko Crvenkovski could name a new prime minister without calling early elections. It was not immediately clear who might succeed Kostov.
Kostov, 45, said he felt he had no real authority over the ethnic Albanian ministers in the coalition government. He said that two key economic laws were not approved because ethnic Albanians said their consent depended on 15 new jobs for ethnic Albanians in the state administration.
``I am not ready for that kind of work, especially because I feel that this kind of practice will continue in the future unless we put an end to it,'' Kostov said.
Proportional employment of the ethnic Albanians in the administration was a key provision of Western-brokered agreement that ended Macedonia's six-month ethnic conflict between security troops and ethnic Albanian rebels that left some 80 people dead in 2001.
Under the deal, the rebels agreed to disarm in exchange for more rights for their community, which accounts for about one-fourth of Macedonia's 2 million people.
Kostov's move is likely to aggravate political tensions in Macedonia one week after the failure of a referendum to revoke a set of decentralization laws that give ethnic Albanians control over a dozen municipalities in Macedonia.
The referendum, forced by the nationalist opposition, was a major victory for Kostov's government, which approved the laws earlier this year. The plebiscite failed, since only 26 percent of the voters cast ballots, far below the 50 percent turnout needed for the balloting to be valid.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Macedonia-Resignation-ai/resources_news_html
FYRO Macedonia has only one solution if it wants to avoid a violent break-up.
(i) Strengthen ties with Serbia and stop antagonizing the Serb minority and the Serbian Church.
(ii) Display flexibility and reach an agreement on the name issue with Greece, its most important trading partner and economic lifeline. Only with Greece's help can FYROM hope for an expedited entry into the EU. While EU is not a panacea, it does offer significantly improved economic prospects for a small, poor country like FYROM. This is the only credible incentive that may persuade the honest, peace-loving majority of ethnic Albanians to turn their backs on Ahmeti's mafioso-terrorists and their secessionist schemes.
Ahmeti and the albaniacs (islamo-fascist jihadists) only purpose is to disrupt, destabilize and then complain that they are being mistreated and discriminated against in the hope that the "world community" (european union) will intervene al la Kosovo and award them the entire Macedonian territory. Meantime, the US state dept and western european islamo-fascist butt kissers continue to pander to world wide islam by delivering traditional Macedonian homelands into the hands of albaniacs...in the finest tradition of Chamberlin and Munich...in the hope that they (the butt kissers) will be the last to be devoured.
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