Former friends on collision course
The two leading public figures in FYROM, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and President Boris Trajkovski, have crossed swords recently, heightening political tension, although the country is in need of a period of calm so that wounds can heal. The two former friends are now strangers at the same level of power, and neither one misses an opportunity to take sideswipes at the other. Trajkovski was a little-known deputy foreign affairs minister who became president thanks to his friend Georgievski, who chose him in order to edge out his partner in government, Vasily Topurkovski, whose fondest ambition was to become president. And the premier chose him with the help of the ethnic Albanians, to whom he is said to have offered something, not necessarily political, in exchange. But his star began to rise following the crisis with the ethnic Albanians, when his astuteness and moderation made him highly regarded in the international community and very popular at home. His growing influence, however, and hints that he was forming his own party brought him up against the other powerful figure, Georgievski, who saw his former friend as a potential opponent; ever since, the two have been on a collision course. On the surface each behaves toward the other as if nothing is happening, but they have other people to do their dirty work for them. In Skopje, Georgievski’s spearhead is said to be hardline Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski, whose counterpart on Trajkovski’s side is Ljubomir Frckovski, who was foreign minister during the Social Democrats’ government. The clash has given rise to scandals and accusations of corruption, selling out the nation and even attempted murder. Lately the news has been dominated by Boskovski’s allegations that Frckovski organized the assassination attempt on then-president Kiro Gligorov. Meanwhile a scandal has broken out over the luxury villa which Premier Georgievski’s wife has allegedly built illegally at a resort outside Skopje. The political atmosphere is being poisoned and the public is constantly hearing accusations of violence and vote-rigging by the government in the runup to the September election. As tempers rise the clashes in Tetovo (so far between ethnic Albanian groups), and the latest claims by the Albanians, such as the inclusion of the Albanian eagle on the flag, are adding fuel to the fire. In these conditions, fears that a new crisis over the election might undermine the Ohrid accord and regional stability cannot be regarded as a certainty. Kifissias blues
