Too Many VMRO's

I think that the Macedonian government should ban the use of historical names for current political parties. Names to be banned include VMRO, Communist (any other recommendations) etc. No more VMRO-DPMNE, VMRO-VMRO, United VMRO etc. It annoys me when some leftist Macedonians criticize the right by saying “those damn “Vmrovtsi”. . These names belong to history and to all the Macedonian people.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting: "Macedonia: Nationalist Crisis Keeps Government Buoyant

Plagued by divisions, nationalists are far from offering a serious challenge to the ruling Social Democrats.

By Tamara Causidis and Zoran Fidanoski in Skopje (BCR No 558, 02-Jun-05)

Macedonia's right-wing opposition VMRO DPMNE went through another reshuffle last weekend, offering fresh signs of the turmoil that has been dogging the party and preventing it from challenging the ruling Social Democrats, SDSM.

The shake-up, targeting opponents of the party leader, Nikola Gruevski, was the third such personnel change since Gruevski took over in 2003.

At the same time, Gruevski said the party would merge with four smaller offshoots that emerged over the past few years as result of splits in VMRO DPMNE.

'Despite the divisions we have seen until now, we are now uniting, which shows VMRO DPMNE will win the upcoming parliamentary elections,' Gruevski announced confidently on May 31.

Analysts warn that such victory talk is premature. Moves to absorb smaller parties may be a healthy sign, they say, but the old standard-bearer of the nationalist right remains divided and locked into an outdated agenda.

'Since Macedonia's independence the opposition has never been weaker,' lamented Dosta Dimovska, a founder of VMRO DPMNE and former partyvice-president. 'That enables SDSM to continue as the main political factor in the country.'

The parties Gruevski referred to are marginal groups. Set up mainly byformer VMRO DPMNE members that were sacked or left, they all kept theVMRO prefix in their names. None has won enough votes to enter parliament.

Analysts see Gruevski's latest move as an attempt to overcome the crisis shaking VMRO DPMNE and show it can again become the biggest opposition party."