“Building a state is not only about holding democratic elections and establishing institutions. It’s also about strengthening them, protecting human rights and respecting the rule of law”, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said at a panel discussion marking Independence Day, September 8.
Speaking at the event “September 8 Through the Eyes of Its Participants and Witnesses”, attended by former MPs, ministers and other public figures, she highlighted the significance of ASNOM and the challenges of building a functional democracy.
“The ASNOM legacy says that the kind of state we create is the kind of state we will have. In my view, the moderate and wise leaders in the 1990s were Gligorov, Stojan Andov, Nikola Kljusev, Petar Goshev and Abdurahman Aliti, who managed to emerge from that whirlwind of war through their knowledge and wisdom, as well as their statesmanlike approach, in a moderate manner, and that’s very important.
According to one scholar, you can draft a constitution in six days and establish a liberal economy in six months, but it takes 60 years to build a functional democracy”, President Siljanovska-Davkova said, stressing the importance of functional institutions, protection of human rights and respect for the highest standards of domestic and international law.