Siljanovska‑Davkova: State-building needs functional institutions and protection of rights

Gordana Siljanovska‑Davkova said that building a state requires more than holding elections: it demands functioning institutions, protection of human rights and adherence to the highest domestic and international legal standards. She made the remarks during a panel titled "8 September through the prism of its direct participants and witnesses," which gathered former MPs, ministers and other public figures.

Siljanovska‑Davkova opened her address by evoking the legacy of ASNOM and the choices made in the 1990s. "The ASNOM covenant that says—what kind of state we will create, that kind of state we will have. In my opinion, the moderate and wise leaders in the 1990s were Gligorov, Stojan Andov, Nikola Kljusev, Petar Goshev, Abduraman Aliti … who managed to step out of that whirlpool of war with their knowledge and wisdom, but also with a statesmanlike, moderate approach, and that is very important," she said.

She added a longer reflection on the time needed to consolidate democratic institutions: "According to one scholar, you can sketch a constitution in six days, you can set a liberal economy in six months, but it takes sixty years to build a functional democracy. It is not built only by democratic elections and by constituting institutions, but by building functional institutions, by defending and protecting human rights and by respecting the highest standards, not only of domestic but also of international law," the panel chair said.

Voices from the panel

Former MP Lambe Arnaudov emphasized the political determination of the first parliamentarians, noting that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in the first days after the break with Yugoslavia. His remarks underlined the role of parliamentary consensus in those initial weeks.

Naser Ziberi, another former MP, reflected on the early deficiencies in rights and loyalty but stressed that Albanian representatives were among the first to support independence and sought a clear constitutional and legal framework for active participation in state-building.

Former justice minister and MP Tushe Goshev said the modern state was born from the strong desire of a whole generation to have an independent country in which all citizens would be equal. Petar Goshev, former MP, minister and governor of the National Bank, called ASNOM the foundation of Macedonian statehood and warned against relativizing history or rehabilitating collaborators with fascism, arguing instead for respect for the anti‑fascist struggle and historical heritage.

Photo: МИА