Tupurkovski's Come-Back

While they still used to meet in order to break up Yugoslavia at the orders of their powerful Republican chiefs (with various degrees of responsibility in the matter), and as the executors of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's disintegration (SFRJ), the former members of the former Presidency of the former state, were usually described as bit players, people after whom "nothing would be named one day". These forecasts concerning one-shot politicians, proved more or less true.

Of the eight politicians who were part of the top-ranking group,only Janez Drnovsek the current Slovenian Prime Minister and certainly the least compromised member of the former Presidency, has remained in politics. Former SFRJ Presidency President Stipe Mesic is also active in politics, but is no longer a member of the top Croatian team.

The cameras sometimes catch Borisav Jovic snoozing during sessions of the Yugoslav Assembly's Chamber of Citizens. Jugoslav Kostic, another Yugoslav Assembly deputy is an obsequious deputy, who votes when he should. In the Assembly's earlier convocation, as President of one of the chambers, he demonstrated an inability to read what had been written for him. Sejdo Bajramovic who lost a son in this war, has spent a lot of time in hospital. The last information concerning Bogic Bogicevic, is that he is stuck in a cellar in Sarajevo, with part of his family.

Vasil Tupurkovski, the youngest member of the former Presidency had been out of politics until last week, for practically a year. At one time he had been considered "Macedonia's most promising politician". Tupurkovski showed up at a rally of Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia, and held in the village of Trnovo near Bitola. The rally was attended by Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. Journalists noted that on this occasion Tupurkovski reminded the authorities of their obligation to develop democracy and not to "ignore the growing problems of democratic and economic development, including the spreading of crime and corruption in Macedonia". His message to opposition leaders was that "the naked power struggle they were conducting" was untenable unless they came up with a program for resolving Macedonia's "enormous problems". Tupurkovski also called on Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia to abandon "romanticism and national-nationalistic aspirations with regard to Macedonia".

After his emergence from the shadows, observers in Skopje hurried to find some hidden meanings, and changes on the Macedonian political scene, all the more so as Tupurkovski made his"entrance" during the week when a new debate was starting in Parliament concerning parliamentary and presidential elections which could be scheduled for November this year. Prior to the November 1990 elections Tupurkovski had remained uninvolved, somewhat on the sidelines, and had left the impression of being uninterested. At the time there were stories in Skopje that only that party which enjoyed Tupurkovski's sympathy, stood a chance of winning at the elections.

All analyses concerning Tupurkovski's come-back on the Macedonian political scene agree only in describing his departure from it last year, while everything else is conjecture. After he stopped being member of the SFRJ Presidency, Tupurkovski was Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov's special envoy in America, where he was supposed to work on preparing the road to international recognition. It turned out, however, that in spite of all his political experience, he fell out on the first curve. In spring1992, on returning from Austria, Tupurkovski admitted on Macedonian Radio that he had said during talks with Alois Mock that Macedonia should not reject outrightly the "package" of solutions which mentioned the possibility of "Macedonia changing its name". There was a stormy reaction from the opposition and many representatives of the ruling coalition.The post of special envoy was never dissolved, but Tupurkovski just retired. He accepted the post of lecturer at a U.S. university, after which he returned to his post as professor at Skopje's Law School.

Tupurkovski's come-back at last week's rally in Trnovo is viewed by many as proof that in politics, "those who are proclaimed politically dead ahead of time, usually live long after that". There are some who place Tupurkovski's political resurrection within the context of his alleged ambitions to take the place of President Gligorov at the upcoming elections. These same sources link Tupurkovski with the Democratic Party led by Petar Gosev who recently broke away from the ruling Social Democratic Party, after adopting radical stands and founding his own party. The weak spot of this argument lies in the fact that it is hard to believe that Gosev, who earlier had prepared the road for Kiro Gligorov's come-back on the political scene, would now do the same, this time for Vasil Tupurkovski, thus remaining number two forever. Some, however, link Tupurkovski's come-back with the arrival of U.S. soldiers to Macedonia, and believe that there must be a catch somewhere.

The majority of observers in Skopje underscore, however, that Tupurkovski's come-back should not be overestimated, but then again, that it should not be underrated either. They believe that Tupurkovski has always been a "safe player", and a long-term one at that. Because of these characteristics, it is difficult to believe that he would try to challenge President Gligorov at the upcoming elections, all the more so as all public opinion surveys conducted so far, show that Gligorov stands unchallenged. There is widespread belief among citizens that it was Gligorov's tactics and wisdom that saved them from the temptations of war and suffering, and that he is responsible for bringing the country close to international recognition, and thus, perhaps, to international sources of money.

According to these interpretations, Tupurkovski's appearance at the rally in Trnovo should be viewed as something natural, since he is an Aegean Macedonian and his interests in minority rights coincide with his professional commitments.

At a time when Cyrus Vance, the mediator in negotiations between
Macedonia and Greece, is preparing to visit Skopje and Athens with the idea of resolving all controversial issues by September 20 (the deadline set by the UN Security Council), the current Macedonian authorities do not need an inflaming of Macedonian nationalist passions, something which would only further complicate the already complicated negotiations with neighboring countries. That is why Vasil Tupurkovski's speech in Trnovo should be interpreted as an attempt by the authorities at cashing in on his undeniable reputation among the inhabitants of Aegean Macedonia, and at preventing a split among Macedonians in the diaspora. This practically means that Tupurkovski, regardless of the upcoming elections and various combinations in which he is being mentioned, has agreed to stand by Kiro Gligorov in the final stages of the battle for Macedonia's international recognition. All other plans can wait for the time being.