Gordana Nestorovska: THE NECESSITY OF COMMON NATIONAL HISTORY

It does not matter where we were in the past, it matters where we are going to be after two-three decades

Certainly, the political leaders should be and example in spreading the political dialogue, be the ordinary people do not see that the leaders at the numerous receptions, cocktail parties, meetings.. are hugging each other, talking. What the ordinary people see is what is going on in the Parliament. Offences and maximal depreciations: what one did in the past and what is one guilty of. As a citizen of Macedonia, I am absolutely not interested in what someone did, I am interested in the issue where would Macedonia be in 20 -30 years.

The consequences of this policy on the young population are yet to be experienced. Every year, the Helsinki Committee organizes courses on human rights for high school scholars between 16 - 18 years old. The situation from school to school varies from desperate to more desperate. We have conducted an analysis on why children have twisted attitudes about beautiful words such as communication, consensus, tolerance, respect, trust etc., and we have realized that those children have been born and are growing up in transition. Actually, those children have not seen anything else, have not seen something different, something more beautiful, have not seen a normal dialogue, exchange of attitudes.. They have only seen offences and accusations. Those are the children the future politicians are going to arise from, who should built that political culture tomorrow and build that political dialogue. 

For several times during the past 5-6 years, we have sent a proposal to all the structures of the various changing governments, for us to stay away from the daily political topics and to carry out a common national dialogue, to see where we want Macedonia to be in 2030. Not today, not tomorrow, but for 20-30 years. If we have something in common, something that bonds us, only then can we develop strategic projects and gradually built that political culture and political dialogue. As long as they do not meet, the whole citizenship and the whole civil society and all the political parties and they do not agree on where we want to be in 30 years, there is not going to be any political dialogue.

(Gordana Nestorovska is Executive Manager of the Helsinki Committee for Human rights of Macedonia)