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Macedonia Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Macedonia
Official Name: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Capital: Skopje
Area: 25,710 square kilometres ( 9,927 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Skopje 563,102 (1994)
Population: 2,163,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 1.1 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Emerging democracy
Independence: 17 September 1991 (from former Yugoslavia)
Constitution: Adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991
Voting Rights: Universal at age 18
Government
Following its declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, the government began adopting many elements of democratic government. The parliament adopted a constitution in November 1991 that guarantees civil rights to the republic’s citizens, who are defined as those who have lived there for at least 15 years. Among these rights is universal suffrage at the age of 18. The republic also has a multiparty system.
The national parliament consists of a 120-member unicameral national assembly, which is elected by popular vote to create laws and develop policy. In the past, assembly members elected the president; beginning with the 1994 election, however, presidential elections are decided by direct popular vote. The president and assembly members serve four-year terms. The president makes policy for the republic and appoints a prime minister, who must be approved by the assembly, to handle daily government operations. Local government is administered by 30 administrative communes.
The national assembly appoints justices to the Judicial Court and Constitutional Court of the republic. There are also lower-level trial and appellate courts. The legal system is based on the civil law system and includes judicial review of parliamentary actions.
Recent History
In 1990, when the Communist party relinquished power of the Yugoslav state, the republics began manoeuvring for greater autonomy. In June 1991 Croatia and Slovenia formally declared their independence from Yugoslavia. In Yugoslav Macedonia, a referendum was held on 8 September 1991 that resulted in a 95 per cent vote for independence. The republic’s Serbs and Albanians boycotted the referendum, which caused tension between Yugoslav Macedonia and the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav government. In November 1991 Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia.
The greatest threat to the republic’s autonomy arose from the lack of recognition by the international community. A conflict regarding the republic’s name arose immediately following its declaration of independence. Greece refused to acknowledge the republic until it changed its name, claiming that “Macedonia” was a Greek name, and that articles of the republic’s constitution implied territorial claims to the adjacent Greek province of Central Macedonia Region. Greece also objected to the republic’s use of Alexander the Great’s 16-pointed star of Vergina on its flag.
As a result of international pressure, the country’s assembly amended the constitution to state that it had no territorial aspirations in Greece or any other country. Greece refused to negotiate, however, and the European Community (now the European Union) sided with Greece by not acknowledging the republic. With negotiations at a standstill, the two countries turned to the United Nations (UN) for resolution of the problem.
In the meantime, unable to join international financial institutions as a result of its lack of recognition, the republic soon found its already weak economy deteriorating. Critical foreign loans and capital could not be obtained without recognition. In addition, a Greek blockade against the republic and the republic’s own obedience to the UN’s sanctions against Yugoslavia meant the loss of two major trading partners. The absence of recognition also allowed Yugoslavia to put political and military pressure on the fledgeling state.
Internal political and ethnic tensions flared in the period before recognition. The country’s Albanian minority began lobbying for more autonomy, with half the community demanding more political representation, and the other half boycotting all participation. Riots broke out in Skopje during the autumn of 1992. The influx of refugees from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina—as many as 100,000 by October 1992—created another potential source of problems for the republic.
Following the collapse of the republic’s government in the summer of 1992, President Kiro Gligorov, who was elected in January 1991, appointed Branko Crvenkovski as prime minister and gave him the mandate to create a new government. On 8 April 1993, the republic was admitted to the UN under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), until a further settlement with Greece over its name could be attained. The issue of the flag was also to be settled through talks. Until then the UN would not fly the republic’s flag.
As a result of this recognition the republic was also allowed to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and gain observer status in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)). In the first half of 1993 the UN sent 1,000 peacekeeping troops to the republic to prevent the war in Bosnia from spreading there.
During 1993 some progress was made in the negotiations with Greece. However, the return of Andreas Papandreou as prime minister of Greece in October 1993 was followed by an abrupt end to the talks, and a return of the trade embargo and blockade in February 1994. In September 1995 the two countries resolved some of the issues of concern and agreed to resume diplomatic relations. According to the agreement, Greece would lift the trade embargo and the FYROM would change its flag. The two countries have yet to resolve the issue of the FYROM’s use of the name Macedonia, which is the main source of tension.
President Gligorov was re-elected—this time by direct popular vote—in October 1994. He narrowly escaped assassination in October 1995, when his car was bombed and his driver killed.
Tensions between the Albanian minority and the government continued in the republic, symbolized by the violent struggle to create an Albanian-language university in Tetovo. One Albanian was killed during a clash between police and demonstrators over the university issue in February 1995. Conflicts with the ethnic Albanian population in the country have strained relations between the governments of the FYROM and Albania. On the other hand, relations between Yugoslavia and the FYROM, as well as the FYROM’s economic prospects, showed signs of improvement in 1996, when the two countries signed agreements on trade and transport.
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