[ALBSA-Info] Macedonian Endorses Unity Govt

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Macedonian Endorses Unity Govt

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES
  
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly 
endorsed a national unity government meant to defuse a bruising conflict with 
ethnic Albanian insurgents. 

As the session convened, however, rebels attacked government positions in two 
northern villages and government troops retaliated with artillery and tanks, 
suggesting the new multiparty Cabinet was no guarantee for a permanent 
cease-fire. Sunday's clashes died down after nearly five hours, the army 
said. 

Leaders of the Balkan nation's main ruling and opposition parties, 
representing majority Slavs and minority ethnic Albanians, agreed to form the 
coalition in the hopes it will help bridge ethnic divisions and allow a 
negotiated solution to the crisis that erupted in February. 

``This is the first time in history that Macedonia has a national unity 
government,'' said Branko Crvenkovski of the Slav Social Democratic Alliance. 
``This government is not a product of love but of need, this government is 
created for the defeat of terrorism and violence.'' 

It will comprise 14 ministers and four deputy prime ministers. A total of 104 
deputies voted for the new government, one lawmaker voted against it and four 
abstained from voting. 

The coalition includes the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, two ethnic Albanian parties - 
the Democratic Party of Albanians and the Party for Democratic Prosperity - 
the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia, and three other Slav parties. 

Deputies looked visibly relieved as they emerged from the session. 

Mersal Biljali, a leader of the Party for Democratic Prosperity that had 
hesitated to join virtually to the last minute, said, ``Under the 
circumstances, this government is the best we could get so we can move out of 
the crisis. All other solutions would lead to disaster.'' 

Voting on the new Cabinet was delayed when the ethnic Albanian PDP asked for 
a pause in the session, seeking ``clarifications'' after Prime Minister 
Ljubco Georgievski reiterated his tough stance against the rebels, calling 
them ``terrorists.'' 

At one point, several PDP members threatened to pull out of the envisaged 
government, and it took several Western diplomats to convince party leaders 
to return to the plenary session to participate in the debate and later in 
the vote. 

``This coalition is not a product of pressures, it is rather the result of 
our awareness that political differences should be overcome with a view to 
state interests,'' Georgievski said. 

For most of the day, Macedonia's army and police halted their assault on 
rebel positions. But Col. Blagoja Markovski said that rebel forces attacked 
government troops later in the day near the villages of Slupcane and Orizare 
and the army fired back. 

Markovski said that Albanian insurgents fired from heavy machine guns and the 
army responded with heavy artillery and tanks. There were no casualties on 
the Macedonian side. 

Macedonia has been struggling to contain the ethnic Albanian insurgency, 
which began in February and raged into late March before subsiding. It flared 
again two weeks ago after rebels killed eight government soldiers in an 
ambush. 

Ethnic Albanian rebels are demanding equal rights with the majority Slavs and 
are calling for the constitution to be changed. The militants of the National 
Liberation Army say the changes are a basic step to empowering Macedonia's 
ethnic Albanians, who make up as much as one-third of the country's 2 million 
people. The rebels themselves, however, were not invited to the bargaining 
table.