Former Macedonian PMs Ponder Joining Forces

Ljubco Georgievski | Photo by: VMRO PP

Two former prime ministers, from opposing ends of the political spectrum, have signaled readiness to unite against the VMRO-DPMNE-led government of Nikola Gruevski.

Earlier this month Branko Crvenkovski, prime minister from 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2004, and head of the main opposition Social Democrats, called for the unification of all opposition forces.

On Monday, Ljubco Georgievski, a former leader of Gruevski's VMRO DPMNE party, and Prime Minister from 1998 to 2002, told the daily Dnevnik that he would ally with the Social Democrats, if that was the only way to end Gruevski’s government.

Qualifying a potential alliance with Crvenkovski as a “far-fetched idea”, he added that “one should not exclude” the possibility, saying he had more in common now with the leftist opposition than with his old party.

“I have not had contact with Crvenkovski thus far,” Georgievski cautioned, but “an atmosphere is being created for organizing the opposition”.

Georgievski's strong rivalry with Crvenkovski dominated the politics of the 1990s, when the country underwent a turbulent translation from communism to capitalism.

The two party leaders then exchanged accusations of betraying the country, of undertaking criminal privatizations of state assets and of being too servile towards the country's large ethnic Albanian minority.

Branko Crvenkovski | Photo by SDSM

But Georgievski now says he is ready to put old grievances aside with the Social Democrats for a greater good.

Georgievski, like the Social Democrats, accuses his successor at the helm of VMRO DPMNE of fomenting damaging conflicts with the country's neighbours, which are keeping Macedonia at an arm’s length from EU and NATO membership.
 
He has also slated Gruevski’s costly bid to refurbish the capital, the project called “Skopje 2014” ,with buildings and monuments drawing inspiration from the Classical Antiquity.
 
In 2003, when Gruevski quit as leader of VMRO DPMNE, he lobbied for Gruevski, then his vice-president, to be made the new leader.  But soon he changed his mind and in 2004 he left VMRO DPMNE after failing to overthrow Gruevski who he meanwhile accused of incompetence.
 
After several years of political inactivity Georgievski staged a comeback in the June early general elections. But his VMRO People’s Party failed to secure a single seat in parliament.

The Social Democrats, however, boosted their numbers in parliament in the June polls. This month they announced they were working on unifying the entire opposition. Crvenkovski called on all parties, regardless of their political background to join.

On Monday, Pavle Trajanov, an MP, from the ruling coalition, said the government was not disturbed by opposition calls for a united front, calling them “media stunts”.