Macedonia’s Georgievski Unveils Election Comeback

Ljubco Gerogievski, head of a small rightist opposition party, VMRO People’s Party, told Macedonia's A1 TV that he intends to re-enter front-line politics, leading his party's campaign in the next general elections.

While Georgievski vows to oppose the policies of the current Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, whom he helped install as his successor in 2002, he faces an uphill task.

His announced return to active politics comes at a time of fierce gridlock and maneuvers between the government and the opposition Social Democrats over the date of the next snap polls that both sides say they desire.

Georgievski attacked Gruevski for leading the country away from NATO and EU, for playing with nationalism and for not delivering economic results. He said he aimed to tap into disillusioned VMRO DPMNE voters.

But he has a long way to go. “His party is not doing well with the electorate so he can only hope for one or two seats after the next elections," Nenad Markovic, political sciences lecturer at the Skopje-based faculty of law, told Balkan Insight.

He said Georgievski's chances of winning more seats might improve if the main leftist opposition Social Democrats decide to boycott the elections.

"It remains to be seen whether Gruevski will succeed in forming a parallel right-wing bloc that would counter VMRO DPMNE,” Markovic added, pointing out to recent attempts by several smaller opposition rightist parties to unite under one platform.

Georgievski was a founder and leader of the right-of-centre VMRO DPMNE in the early 1990s and was prime minister from 1998 to 2002.

Remembered as charismatic party leader, he was also a controversial figure. In 2001, amid the armed conflict with ethnic Albanian militants, he proposed the peaceful dissolution of Macedonia and an exchange of populations between ethnic Macedonians and Albanians.

After losing the 2002 elections to the Social Democrats, Georgievski supported Gruevski as his successor. But when he tried to return to politics two years later, Gruevski kicked him out of the party.

He retreated from active political life, taking the role of honorary head of the VMRO People’s Party. In the last elections, in 2008, it did not secure a single seat in parliament.

Georgievski was remembered as a hard-line nationalist. During the 2001 conflict, he accused NATO and the European Union of supporting the Albanian insurgents and initially opposed granting any concessions to Albanians in exchange for peace.

He has since softened his tone on national issues, proposing pre-election deal between parties stating that whichever wins the election should have an obligation and a mandate to solve the dispute with Greece over Macedonia's name. This will then ease Macedonia’s bid to join NATO and EU.

Markovic argues that Georgievski has only a small chance of snatching voters who supported Gruevski’s VMRO DPMNE at the previous snap polls in 2008. “But there are many undecided and confused voters who may or may not choose to give him support,” he added.