Author: Xhelal Neziri
Neither the third decade of the 21st century does not find the Albanian political parties in North Macedonia consolidated. Without a concept and ideology, these subjects continue to function according to the system “where the wind blows”.
Societies cannot function without ideology. Before the French Revolution in the 18th century, religious ideology was the dominant one, but from then until now – the national or ethnic.
Even parties cannot exist without political ideology (left, right, center…). Ideology is a system of ideas and ideals, related to the political or economic system. It is held by principles and values, but it is destroyed by concrete individual and clan interest.
When ideology is destroyed, only interest remains. At this level, democracy is based on the clientele’s vote (the concrete interest of the voter), and the elected do not feel obliged to serve society, but the party or sponsor who has collected the votes.
Ideology is an idea and ideal that is related to the improvement of the political or economic system. A party without a defined ideology is like a shareholder’s society, exclusively profit oriented.
What political ideology do our parties have: left, right, center? Konrad Adenauer has stated that the political party that adheres to the demands dictated by time will be sterile and short-lived. This is confirmed by the latest political history related to the first Albanian party – PDP: which was founded in 1990 and it was abolished in 2010.
In the congresses of all Albanian political parties in North Macedonia, there was only one candidate. This is not only the result of the lack of democratic culture, but also the party’s dependence on the leader’s cult. Thus, voters are more associated with the figure itself than with the (missing) project or ideology; decide based on the public actions of the leader rather than the level of implementation of the program or political idea (absent); they make the leader a star and they turn themselves into fans, while the party program is not even red.
A few words about the discrediting campaigns of politicians and public figures. This trend, known as lynching, seems to fit well with our mentality “don’t do anything but blame everyone who does something”.
Lynching is a form of violence in which the crowd, under the pretext of delivering justice without judgment, executes an alleged offender. The term lynching refers to a self-informed court ruling imposing a sentence on a person without regular law process.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the term derives from the name of Charles Lynch (1736–963), a farmer from Virginia who, during the American Revolution, headed an irregular court formed to punish loyalists.
Lynching in the time of globalization does not act through physical killings, but attempting to get rid of the public scene through trolls on social media and propaganda media.
This is happening to Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, for an initiative called Minischengen, stemming from the Berlin Process, initiated by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to Europeanize the conflicting Balkans.
It is also happening to the leader of the LDK, Isa Mustafa, because he has rejected the offer of the candidate for Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
In the first months of 2020, the same thing will happen to many politicians and public figures in North Macedonia since on 12 April early parliamentary elections are going to be held. / KPD