Australia-Macedonia Chamber of Commerce
Lobbies
for Parliament Seats
January 24, 2008
The Australia-Macedonia Chamber of Commerce (AMCC) has presented
a case to have 20 Macedonian Parliament seats set-aside exclusively
for the Macedonian Diaspora.
At the Business Forum in Skopje on 16 January 2008 at Aleksandar
Palace, AMCC delegate Stevo Tiricovski (pictured with Premier Nikola
Gruevski and Economy Minister Vera Rafajlovska) spoke openly about
this issue to the applause of 80 participants present from the
Diaspora & 200 businessmen from Macedonia.
The AMCC Governors Peter Ristevski, John Kukalovski and Bill Petrovski
also met with the Director of the Macedonian Emigration Agency
Vasil Naumov in Sydney to lobby for the same issue. "The future
economic prosperity of Macedonia is with the Diaspora whose investment
should be considered as domestic but with the benefits of Direct
Foreign Investment. To provide greater certainty for the Diaspora
to invest in Macedonia, requires some form insurance through representation
in Parliament where we can lobby for change and protect our investments" stated
National Chairman of the AMCC Peter Ristevski.
With Macedonia being divided into six electorates of approximately
120,000 voters with each having 20 representative seats in Parliament,
the argument for the Diaspora having 20 seats in Parliament is
valid. Officially there are 400,000 Macedonians in the Diaspora
and if we eliminate half of these, we still have 200,000 eligible
voters. With a majority of the Diaspora in Australia, Canada and
the USA the AMCC believes this should be treated as a one-line
block.
"We have educated and very successful business people in
the Diaspora, why not leverage off this talent by having them represented
in Parliament. Through greater seats in Parliament, the Diaspora
can make a positive contribution to the Macedonian economy. Since
the independence of the Republic of Macedonia, the potential of
the Diaspora has not been utilised. This human capital has the
potential to delivery economic benefits just like oil and gas has
to Russia. It is time that the Diaspora is seriously included in
the legal organs of the Republic of Macedonia,” stated Ristevski.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church, VMRO Perth, The Australia Macedonia
Business Association of Western Australia, World Macedonian Congress
Australia and the Brat Lube Boskovski Drushtvo have all supported
the AMCC on this issue.
Kind regards,
Australia-Macedonia Chamber of Commerce
PETER RISTEVSKI CPA
Chairman
13 Marion Street
Bankstown NSW 2200
Tel: 02 9707 3000
Fax: 02 9796 3029
E-mail: peter@mackpartnership.com.au |
