Page 15 - bne_newspaper_August_10_2018

Southeast Europe
August 10, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
More important than the efforts of the group of smaller rightwing parties to boycott the election is the decision of the Macedonia’s main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE. The party is against the
deal and the referendum question, but has not said clearly so far whether it will boycott the referendum.
The latest poll indicates that the 50% threshold is likely to be exceeded, and the largest share of those surveyed — 41.5% — say they plan to vote yes, compared to 35.1% who say they will vote against the deal. However, should VMRO-DPMNE urge its supporters to join the boycott, there is a stronger chance of a low turnout.
Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev called on the opposition to vote in the referendum with the aim of ensuring turnout reaches the 50% mark needed for the plebiscite to be successful.
Zaev has said repeatedly that he will resign if the majority of population vote against the name deal. However, he also said that the parliament will
decide on the name deal if the referendum ends unsuccessfully.
With less than two months to go before the vote, Macedonians are deeply divided on their future. Few like the deal that will involve a change of the country’s name for internal as well as interna- tional use, as well as a requirement to start using Greek names for cities that were once Macedoni- an, with Greece's second city Thessaloniki, known in Macedonian as Solun, being one example.
Some see accepting the deal as the least bad option, since a yes vote in the referendum will pave the way for Macedonia to finally enter Nato and make progress towards EU accession. They fear a no vote would mean an end to western support that would leave Macedonia vulnerable to Russian influence or to a renewed push for federalisation from the country’s substantial Albanian minority. On the other hand, many Macedonians are staunchly against the deal, though those against are split over whether to boycott the referendum or turn up and vote no.