Albanian parties in North Macedonia, namely WLEN in the majority and DUI in the opposition, continue to blame each other for the challenges in implementing the Albanian language.
On Wednesday, during a session in parliament, DUI MP Rina Ajdari and Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Alternativa party Bekim Sali debated with each other regarding last week's protest by law students demanding the right to take the acquittal exam in Albanian.
In parliament, Ajdari asked the Deputy Prime Minister why he was not present at the protest and accused the WLEN coalition of being responsible for the non-implementation of the Albanian language.
"When a right that is written in the law is demanded on the streets, then the problem is not with the students, the problem is with the institutions, the problem is with you. And this time the institutions from this government lack ethnic legitimacy, and you as an Albanian representative should have taken responsibility in time if the rights of Albanians in the country are violated. In the end, what is the point of political representation, if citizens still have to go out in protest for their basic rights?" she said.
In his reaction, Sali accused the DUI of not listening to citizens' problems and not addressing issues that are important to Albanians.
"For your information and the public's information, the students were accepted by me on the first day they took the initiative with their signatures and their concerns were heard and we have responded institutionally and taken the necessary measures to solve that problem and that problem will be solved. Albanian students will take the jurisprudence exam in Albanian. As long as you express your concerns and protest, then you are protesting against your actions over the past 22 years." he said. .
Students from three Albanian universities in Skopje are demanding that the bar exam be held in Albanian. On April 6, thousands of them organized a powerful protest in front of the Ministry of Justice, calling for respect for the Law on the Use of Languages, respect for the Constitution, and justice.
They argue that there is no legal provision in the Law on the Bar Exam stating that this exam can only be held in the Macedonian language.
Article 2 and Article 5 of this law state that "institutions are obliged to enable the use of the Albanian language in all procedures before courts and other state bodies."
This, according to local experts, means that if the law on the bar exam does not limit the taking of this exam only in the Macedonian language, it should also be possible in the Albanian language.
The Law on the Implementation of Languages in North Macedonia entered into force in 2019.
