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Political Parties and Minority Participation Political Parties and Minority Participation Skopje 2008 Publisher: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - Office Macedonia, ul. Risto Ravanovski 3, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia http://www.fes.org.mk Cover design and pre-press: PROMO DSGN, Skopje Proofreading provided by BesTel Copies: 300 Copyright by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung CIP – Каталогизација во публикација Национална и универзитетска библиотека “Св.Климент Охридски”, Скопје 329-054.57(497) POLITICAL Parties and Minority Participation. - Skopje : Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2008. – 222 стр. : табели; 23 см Фусноти кон текстот ISBN 978-9989-109-44-7 а) Политички партии – Малцинска партиципација - Балкан COBISS.MK-ID 73540362 Contents: 5 Florian Bieber Introduction 31 Monica Caluser Minority Participation at the Local and National Level in Romania 49 Antonija Petričušić The Role of Political Parties in Minority Participation in Croatia 87 Marko Hajdinjak Thou Shall Not Take the Names Ethnic or Minority, And I Will Bless Thee: Political Participation of Minorities in Bulgaria 127 Dane Taleski Minorities and Political Parties in Macedonia 153 Gezim Visoka Political Parties and Minority Participation: Case of Roma, Ashkalia and Egyptians in Kosovo 179 Nedjeljka Sindik The Role of Political Parties in Minority Participation in Montenegro 201 Gjergj Sinani Minority in Albania and their Participation in Public Life 1. Introduction: Minority Participation and Political Parties 1. INTRODUCTION: MINORITY PARTICIPATION AND POLITICAL PARTIES By FLORIAN BIEBER Minority political participation is where minority rights and social attitudes towards minorities meet. Conventionally, minority rights include approaches to avoid discrimination and affirm cultural distinctiveness of the community. Minority rights have experienced substantial progress over the past decade. From a marginal topic during the Cold War, they have entered mainstream debates and instruments of human rights. The establishment of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe and the Copenhagen Criteria for the admission of new members to the EU each provided for substantial advances in the promotion of minority rights. Minority rights, nevertheless, remain largely undefined and international standards are vague and evasive, not last the definition of minorities themselves.1 Although ‘the highest European standards’ remain often invoked by both minority leaders and governments in Southeastern Europe, the term is largely devoid of meaning. In addition to protecting minorities from discrimination, minority rights have focused on two key areas: linguistic and educational rights. The political participation of the minority community has not been the primary focus of minority rights. This neglect of minority representation, however, has been reduced in recent years. Both recent minority rights’ legislation in Southeastern Europe, as well as some international approaches, most notable the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life drafted under the auspices of the OSCE High Commission on National Minorities, have included provisions on the political participation of 1 See Tim Potier, “Regionally non-dominant titular peoples: the next phase in minority rights?” Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, July 2001, pp. 2-3. 5 Florian Bieber minorities. Most importantly, practice suggests that minority rights are often not implemented without political representation of the minorities themselves. For example, a report from Human Rights Watch contrasts municipalities in Croatia where Serb parties participate in local government with those municipalities where they are excluded despite constituting a significant share of the population, suggesting that the political inclusion of the Serb minority significantly advances minority rights.2 Similar experiences at local and national levels are common across the region. Thus, the political participation of minorities can be understood from two perspectives: a minority rights perspective and a democratic stability argument. In terms of the minority rights’ perspective, other minority rights and the prevention of discrimination of minorities cannot be effectively ensured, unless the minority itself is actively partaking in the political decision-making processes which govern the protection of minority rights. Thus, without participation, other mechanisms of minority rights protection can be substantially weakened. Furthermore, the political participation of minorities has roots in international human rights law. Key international conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantee the right to all citizens to participate in the political life of the country. Thus, Article 25 of the ICCPR notes that [e]very citizen shall have the right and the opportunity…(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; (b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors; (c) To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.” The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms contain similar commitments to the free participation of citizens in the political process. However, such provisions lack a minority-specific dimension and can be thus primarily seen as prohibiting any discrimination of minorities. The 2 Human Rights Watch (HRW), Croatia: A Decade of Disappointment Continuing Obstacles to the Reintegration of Serb Returnees, Vol.18 (2006), p. 19. 6 1. Introduction: Minority Participation and Political Parties Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) also only contains a rather general clause regarding political participation in Article 15: “The Parties shall create the conditions necessary for the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in cultural, social and economic life and in public affairs, in particular those affecting them.” As this clause does not require states to engage in any special measures to secure the inclusion of minorities in public life, it appears rather vague and without much meaning. As Joseph Marko in a study of the Advisory Committee points, however, the work of the Advisory Committee has developed this article and set standards in terms of minority participation through its comments on state reports for the FCNM. The Advisory Committee has criticized measures which negatively impact minority representation, such as the ban on minority parties in Albania, while endorsing special measures which seek to facilitate the representation of minorities. Consequently, it has dismissed government reservations that special measures for minorities violate the principle of equality.3 When examining political participation from the point of view of democratic stability, one can note that minorities run the risk of being excluded from the political system without special protective measures. Especially in countries with mobilized ethnic nationalism, majorities (and minorities) have been unlikely to vote for parties or candidates of other nations or ethnic groups. The odds of political representatives from minority communities to successfully partake in the political system are thus limited. Furthermore, a number of approaches to democracy run the risk of permanently excluding minorities. Most obviously, the British-style First-Past-The-Post electoral system has the feature of excluding dispersed minorities from representation.4 Additionally, electoral districts can be drawn to favor the dominant nation. A number of other tools intentionally or inadvertently can preclude or minimize the minorities’ share of representation in political institutions. Thus, a number of scholars of 3 Joseph Marko, Effective Participation of National Minorities. A Comment on Conceptual, Legal and Emperical Problems. Committee of Experts on Issues Relating to the Protection of National Minorities, DH-MIN (2006)014, Strasbourg, 20.10.2006, pp. 5-8. 4 It favors, however, territorially concentrated groups, such as voters in favor of Scottish independence in the House of Commons. 7 Florian Bieber divided societies and ethnic relations have concluded that conventional institutions of democracies without minorities are insufficient to allow for a stabile democracy system in diverse societies.5 In addition to the ‘injustice of procedural democracy’6, stability provides for a key argument for specific measures to include minorities. The lack of participation in state institutions and the marginalization of minorities can lead to an alienation of minorities from the state of residence. As a result, there is often a lack of ‘ownership’ over the state and it is instead perceived to be in the exclusive domain of the majority. The response is often resorting to extra-institutional means to articulate minority concerns. These forms of engagement can range from parallel institutions and extra- parliamentary organizations up to armed secessionist movements. The loss of the state’s legitimacy in the eyes of minority community can thus significantly undermine the effectiveness of the state. It can thus be argued that it is in the interest of state and stability to provide for political
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