Fascist rise in Macedonia

[MaximMK]

6 and a half years now the nationalist party DPMNU ( Democratic Party of Macedonia for National Unity ) has the majority in the parliament. During their reign they closed TV houses that spoke against, arrested journalists, arrested leaders of opposition parties, advocated nationalism, sparkled ethnic conflicts, and of course stole alot of money. They are openly anticommunist and most of them like the WWII nazis. Recently the opposition united to try and defeat them. When the opposition attempted to block the voting of the new budget for 2013 in the economy commission the government illegally passed it today after using police and security forces to remove the journalists and the opposition parliament members violently from the parliament leaving only the members of parliament from the government inside. People that came to protest were met by a group of goverment supporters which resulted in clashes. Lots of civilians ended up in surgery including some opposition members of parliament who had severe injuries on the head. This violent act of removing the opposition totally including the media witch exception of 1 or 2 they own is an attempt to establish a totalitarian rule. They even had plans 1-2 years back to change their stance from party to all-peoples-movement because they said they were growing to be the only political option. They have this personality cult towards alexander the great and all their members use flags with the star of vergina ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergina_Sun ) symbol of ancient macedonian empire. They lead offensive politics to the neighboring states blaming all to hate the macedonian people and that the macedonians are all alone and tormented by the other nations. Their members openly claim to be nationalist and cherish territorial pretensions to other states. Their leader is also known to have send one of hitlers speaches from 1933 to the membership as his own translated into macedonian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXFJSoqUCCg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW5hW6iZiZI

[Comrade Samuel]

This is very concerning to say the least, does anybody care to offer an explanation as to why fascism is on the rise in eastern Europe? Surely capitalism is in crisis there but shouldn't that lead to stronger worker's movements as well?

[the Left™]

Hate to sound all doom and gloom but I'll offer an explanation( that someone like avanti would regard as pertinent).

The left is in an identity crisis, we exist somewhere in the coordinates of radical obscurantism and sectarianism and impotent social democratic coalition parties. We don't feel "revolutionary" to disenfranchised persons experiencing crisis. Fascist parties have a monopoly on alluring political and social lore/mythologies that really inspire people and compromise the public into emotional identification with things like nationalism etc. Workers movements are either impotent, coopted by bourgeois parties under the facade of "reform", or absorbed into nationalist/anti-immigrant politics. Its really troubling I wish I understood it more, it seems history is repeating itself around the world.

[MaximMK]

The protests ended when the police brought in dogs and started beating people. The leader of the opposition led by SDUM ( Social Democratic Union of Macedonia ) the legitimate successor of the Communist Party of Macedonia declared no stopping and that from tomorrow the fight for the freedom of the country begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kuav7MtZ70E

Future actions are being planned but in the end this violent, right-wing regime which limits the freedom of all and corrupts the state. Titles like Phd. etc are won only with party membership history is being rewritten the communist partisans that fought the nazis and liberated the people were not actually communist but people who fought for the nation they say!!! Imagine i met a guy who claimed the red communist star was actually a macedonian patriotic star. They think macedonia is the oldest nation and the root of all culture and think they are the best. Im sick of their nationalism and religious fanaticism.

[MaximMK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bOAMLz5Qds

[cynicles]

Radical obscurantism? You realize that primitivists are a small fringe on the left right?

[Sasha]

Intresting, not that i have any faith that the socdems wouldnt pull the same shit if the tables where/are turned but keep us posted on whats going on.
A bunch of serbian friends of mine where involved in the overthrow of milosovich in their youth, even though they ended up with not much better than they got rid off it was an catharsic experience and they learned a lot from it.
Be safe, give them hell...

[MaximMK]

Most of the people are members of the former CUM ( Communist Union of Macedonia ) and are sympatisers of the socialist period. The other group are the people who dislike the socialist period ( after WWII - 1990 ) and are demochristian nationalists. Even tho most of the people cherish far left ideals the party is SocDem now and it is about democracy and elections etc. It is the only mass leftist organization with a serious amount of members and all other leftist parties including some communists etc. are in coalition with them but they individually have no more people than 150-250.

Now we have protests and blockades all over Macedonia on important streets and in saturday there will be a big protest in front of the ruling party's main building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iRjh7mzgwI - video someone made with good pictures n music

[hetz]

What's up with this nationalism in FYROM?
I mean doesn't the government there have better things to do than destroying a modern city with kitsch and lame monuments and grand arches and what not?

[MaximMK]

They are copying world monuments with bad replica like the triumphal arch ( france ) and the column of victory ( germany ). Most of the projects are to hire party member companies to make the monuments, they are doing the same with useless TV campaigns its all money stealing, hiring party member owned companies giving them alot of cash more than the things really cost so they can later split the state money. And ofcourse it is part of improving their personality cult towards Alexander the great and the ancient empire they so wish to come back. At their central meeting they had this huge banner showing ancient macedonia in its borders. I just hate their nationalism and teritorial pretensions. They a bunch of violent goons who use threats and physical force to get what they want.

[Noa Rodman]

Macedonian protesters demand budget cuts

"The opposition, which held Saturday's peaceful protest in Skopje, argues that the conservative government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is spending too much money on grandiose monuments and expensive cars and furniture for state officials. The opposition is demanding spending cuts and says it will boycott parliamentary proceedings indefinitely."

[Pravda]

While im not Macedonian and not an expert on the situation there i dont think there is fascism on rise, i think its more of case of nation building and rise of macedonian nationalism rather than fascism. I mean, VMRO came on power through elections, they support joining EU and NATO etc. They are pretty usual conservative, right wing, nationalistic European party, much more similar to croatian HDZ (CDU) in the 90s (building national myths, even with buildings and sculptures, chauvinism, inventing theories about nations roots etc.) than NSADP.