The Economist - USA (2020-03-21)

48 Europe The EconomistMarch 21st 2020

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lexanderthegreatisofftothe

dump.If theauthoritiesinSkopje,

thecapitalofNorthMacedonia,have

theirway,statuesandmonumentsglori-

fyinghim,hisfatherPhilipII andother

ancient,mythicalandmoremodern

Macedoniansaroundthecitywillsoon

beyankedofftheirpedestalsanddis-

patchedtoa distantparkona reclaimed

rubbishtip.

Skopjewasrefurbishedbytheprevi-

ouscityauthorities,wholostpowerin

2017.Oneaimoftheir€685m($765m)

renovationprojectwastoinstilpridein

anantiqueMacedonianpastcentringon

Alexander,thegeneralwhocreatedan

empirestretchingasfareastasPakistan

bytheageof30.ButGreeksregardAlex-

anderaswhollytheirs,andreckonthat

Skopje’sclaimtohimisabsurd.The

territorynowoccupiedbyNorthMac-

edoniawasnot,theyargue,evenpartof

theancientkingdomofMacedonia(the

Romansaddedit totheirprovinceofthat

namelateron.)Byclaiminghim,North

Macedoniapoisonedrelationswith

Greece,theregionaleconomichegemon.

A newcoalitiongovernmentfinally

managedtoendthe27-year-oldconflict

withGreecein 2018 byagreeingtochange

thecountry’snamefromMacedonia

(whichisthenameofa Greekregion)to

NorthMacedonia.

TheSocialDemocratswhonowrun

Skopjehavetalkedofremovinga giant

Alexanderstatue,andothersofhimand

otherheroes,thoughdonelittle.Costis

onereason,saysNikolaNaumoski,the

mayor’schiefofstaff,butpoliticsisa

biggerone.Everystatueis“likea land-

mine”,hesays.If theyareremoved,

protestswillerupt.Forthatreason,the

governmentpressedthecityauthorities

toholdoffonpurgingtheplinths.

However,inOctoberFrancevetoed

theopeningofeuaccessiontalkswith

NorthMacedonia,infuriatingitsgovern-

ment.Anelectionwascalledshortly

afterwards,butisnowupintheair,

thankstothecoronavirus.If thenation-

alistsreturntopower,theywillstopthe

statuesfrombeingremoved.Butif the

incumbentSocialDemocratswin,says

MrNaumoski,Alexanderwillbetakinga

longwalkinthepark.

DeplinthingAlexander

NorthMacedonia

SKOPJE

Thepoliticsoftearingdownstatuesofa manwhoconqueredtheancientworld

A junkyard-bound general?

ered in parks or shopping in crowded street

markets, ignoring advice to stay in. The

next day, Mr Macron addressed the nation

again, deploring the fact that people were

behaving “as if, basically, life had not

changed”. He suspended the second-round

vote, due on March 22nd, shut France

down, and declared, “We are at war.”

Why did Mr Macron not delay the elec-

tions earlier? His former health minister

now says she knew it was a “masquerade”

to go ahead. It turns out that postponement

was still on the table as late as March 12th.

Delaying a democratic vote, however, was a

decision that required cross-party consen-

sus, at least politically. There was already a

climate of suspicion at the government’s

recent use of a decree to pass its pension re-

form. Gérard Larcher, president of the Sen-

ate, opposed a postponement. Christian Ja-

cob, the Republican leader (who has since

contracted covid-19), had said publicly that

a delay would constitute a coup d’état.

Moreover, the scientific council advising

the president suggested that voting would

not pose a health hazard if sanitary rules

were followed.

As France deals with an acceleration of

cases, such questions will become second-

order. A military hospital is being mobil-

ised in Alsace, one of the worst-affected re-

gions. Fully 66% of the French told a poll

that they found Mr Macron’s first address,

which mixed solemnity and science with

much-needed warmth, convincing. An as-

tonishing 35m people, more than half the

entire population, watched his second.

And, despite disapproving of the decision

to hold a first-round vote, 57% of the

French think he and his government are

managing the crisis well—his highest ap-

proval rating for a very long time. 7

T

he worldmight be heading into its

biggest crisis since the second world

war, Russians may be sweeping the shelves

of supermarkets clean, but Vladimir Putin

knows his priorities. On March 17th he de-

creed that his country must hold an “all-

people vote” on a constitutional change de-

signed to keep himself in power indefinite-

ly. “Against the background of the

pandemic, Putin’s decision seems crimi-

nal,” tweeted Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most

prominent opposition figure.

Mr Putin later said the vote could be

postponed if need be, but for now it is to be

held on April 22nd—the birthday of Vladi-

mir Lenin. It is as meaningless as were

elections in the Soviet Union The amend-

ments that give the president vast powers

and reset the clock on his term limits have

already been signed into law by Mr Putin

and approved by a pliant Constitutional

Court. Ekaterina Schulmann, a political

scientist, said on Facebook about the court

that “rarely has the spirit of slavery and in-

tellectual cowardice revealed itself so fully

in a written text.”

The spectacle of a “people’s approval” is

likely to stretch over several days, requires

no minimum turnout or independent ver-

ification and will include home and elec-

tronic voting. “Putin was too scared to hold

a proper referendum so he came up with

this fake procedure,” says Mr Navalny. “The

Kremlin is desperate to draw us into it,

count us up and then declare victory,” he

adds. He has refused to participate in it. On

March 15th a group of 350 lawyers, intellec-

tuals and journalists signed an open letter

warning of a constitutional coup that

threatens to plunge the country into a na-

tional conflict. Three days later the number

of signatures had swelled to 30,000.

Even Mr Putin’s loyalists feel deceived.

“Lying to foreigners is one thing. Lying to

his own people is quite another,” one for-

mer military officer says. The growing fear

of a covid-19 outbreak in Russia, where the

number of cases has been suspiciously low,

and Mr Putin’s insistence on sticking with

the vote, despite his government’s decision

to close borders and schools, could exacer-

bate that anger. Many people remember the

Kremlin lying about the scale of the Cher-

nobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Mr Putin’s

amended constitution proclaims today’s

Russia to be the heir to the Soviet Union,

whose falsehood-filled propaganda rag

was called, simply: “Truth”. 7

A backlash to Vladimir Putin’s

power-grab begins

Russia

The new Soviet

Union