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Abstract
This paper attempts to analyse territorial reorganisation policy interventions in Macedonia, first in 1995 and again in 2004, which overreached their aims and objectives; and where economic viability and institutional reform were trumped by ethnic factors in defining local government boundaries. The core argument is that through territorial reorganisation, opportunities are provided to major ethnic political parties, both Macedonian and Albanian, in order to exercise more power by increasing their ‘market share’ in local governments. This paper argues that this political approach adds to a higher level of segregation among ethnic communities. Further, this paper clearly explains how balancing political, economical and institutional qualifications for the two territorial policy interventions posed challenges in Macedonia due to its citizens perceptions and demographic profile.
In understanding the need for territorial re-organisations in Macedonia, one must not ignore historical legacy and developments around the region in the last decade. Immediately after Macedonia became a sovereign and independent state in September 1991, the new Macedonian constitution was drawn up and later adopted in November 1991. This revealed tensions between two major ethnic groups over constitutional nationalism and the principle of democracy. It was not until 2001 when the Ohrid Framework Agreement was signed through mediation of the international community that the country's political leadership recognised the need for a new political discourse in order to bring more social and economic progress to the country.
Notes
1 See for detailed information.
2 Two important aspects of the referendum held on 8 September 1991 are: first, Albanians boycotted this referendum, expressing dissatisfaction with their minority status in a variety of ways; and second, the extension of the right to vote, meaning that voting included all people who identified themselves as Macedonians regardless of where they were born, where they lived, or what states they were citizens of.
3 Danforth (Citation1995).
4 Ibid: 144.
5 Ibid: 145.
6 The Ohrid Framework Agreement was signed on 13 August 2001 in Ohrid, through the mediation of international community. Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/e/legal_affairs/legal_co-operation/police_and_internal_security/OHRI-D%20Agreement%2013August2001.asp
7 For full modifications see OFA constitutional amendments; ibid.
8 For more detailed information, see discussions on Dayton Peace Agreement. Available at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/bosnia/dayton_peace.html
9 The Ohrid Framework Agreement (see note 7).
10 The Law on Local Self Government, Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia, No. 5 (January 2002).
11 Ibid.
12 See Friedman (Citation2003), OSCE (2007), and Analytica (2006).
13 See OFA, 1.2: ‘Macedonia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the unitary character of the State are inviolable and must be preserved. There are no territorial solutions to ethnic issues.’
14 Based on OFA provisions on the development of decentralised government, the competencies of elected officials were expanded to the areas of public services, local economic development, urban and rural planning, environmental protection, culture, local finance, education, social welfare, and health care.
15 Cited in Swianiewicz (Citation2003).
16 Authors were not able to find written documents. Private conversation with key political figures during the time of discussion for territorial organization.
The Law on Local Government was adopted in 2002 and the Law on Local Government Finance in 2004. The form of public debate was through public workshops in city halls in biggest cities in Macedonia and expert seminars organised in Skopje. The debate was mostly supported and financed by the international community, e.g., USAID, the United Nations Development Program, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
18 This is clearly stated under European Charter of Local-Self Government, Article 5, Protection of Local Authority Boundaries, ‘Changes in local authority boundaries shall not be made without prior consultation of the local communities concerned, possibly by means of a referendum where this is permitted by statute.’
19 Variables are calculated based on the census data for 1994 and 2002.
Given the policy framework objectives both in the first intervention and the second intervention, ethnic politics had a key role. Namely, ethnic Albanian political parties tried to increase the number of municipalities dominated by Albanian population which in turn will have an Albanian mayor whereas, ethnic Macedonian political parties tried to maintain the number of municipalities dominated by the Macedonian population. In some cases the key role of local government was to keep number of ethnic Albanians below 20 per cent – attempted by ethnic Macedonian political parties – or to get the number of ethnic Albanians above 20 per cent – attempted by ethnic Albanian political parties.
21 USAID-funded project, USAID Assistance Doubles Tax collection. Available at: http://www.mlga.com.mk/success_stories_more.php?id=56
22 We did not take into consideration the 2005 actuals because the revenue assignments become effective in 1 July 2005, the mid-fiscal year for Macedonia.
23 See , 4 and 5 for correlation data.
24 By administration expenditures we mean salaries. These expenditures are coded as 40 in the expenditures classification.
25 See detail explanation in Sharpe (1973).
