LDP - The Liberal Democratic Party of Macedonia

The Liberal Democratic Party of Macedonia is a party with liberal orientation and represents a legal successor of two previously existing political entities – Democratic and Liberal Party whose reunion happened on 19 April 1997 in Skopje.

The subject of analysis of this political party was the election learning platform named as – “There is a way out” (²) where human rights and freedoms make part of the chapter on the rule of law and human rights, but also they are covered with the chapter on freedom and autonomy of the personality. They see the promotion of equality and protection against discrimination in line with the consistent transposition of the EU directives for non-discrimination, then amending the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination in order to embrace in itself the standards of the EU law (specifically defined in the non-discriminatory directives and the Lisbon Treaty). The LDP specifically stated that they will be insisting on inclusion of sexual orientation as ground for discrimination in the existing law.

For the needs of this analysis their official, Ms. Nikica Korubin, member of the Executive and Central Committee of LDP answered the questionnaire submitted by the Association for Critical Approach to Gender and Sexuality Subversive Front from Skopje, where she stated the following:

• The efforts of LDP for equal rights of LGBTI persons in Macedonia are undisputed. At the same time the Party gives clear support to the legal initiatives for amending the Law for Protection against Discrimination and the Criminal Code of the Republic of Macedonia where sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for discrimination, hate crime acts on the same grounds, but also public condemn of hate speech during organized LGBTI events would be introduced. This political party would support introduction of educational contents in respect to LGBTI persons within the curricula of the schools, and in accordance with its actual program, would advocate for “Partner community” as a possible solution for amending the Law on Family in order to legally recognize same sex couples.
• In regards to the questions referring to supporting eventual initiatives for amending the legislation related to transgender persons for the purpose of changing their ID documents, or for covering medical costs related to changing the sex, but also concerning the amendments of the Law on biomedical assisted fertilization, LDP has no clear view i.e. discussion for adopting unified stance upon these issues.
• The future efforts of LDP in respect to the LGBTI community are: “This political party as one of the stakeholders would have a real impact in the society. In this regards all initiatives should arise from the LGBTI community, while as LDP with confidence, and its openness towards everyone, so as its true intent for changes within the LGBTI community, would become a medium for transmitting the message to the executive or legislative authorities, or with its position as an extra-parliamentary party”.

Do you count on the votes of LGBTI persons and why do you think they would support your political party and would vote for you?

Answer: The concept of a political party that functions as an actor in society should be dramatically changed in Macedonia. The political party is the form through which democracy can be practiced in a society. But the main pillars are independent institutions where citizens fulfill their legal rights and obligations. Hence, the crucial change is the perception of citizens about the power of the political party, and of the political party itself the essence of existence and action. It exists for the exercise of the rights of the citizens, it exists as a transfer and medium of one's efforts and ideas, but it does not exist for power and rule, exists for professional and expert management of the state. The LDP is composed of different individuals and different concepts, a conservative and progressive understanding of politics. We as members need to understand the changes in society, the new state we are building and the importance of applying principles, standards and a system of values. Only in this way can the citizens of the LGBT community be able to trust the truthfulness of the LDP's commitments and the essential viability of their needs and rights, and not the declarative effort. The understanding of time, society and solidarity, quality and individuality, the fight for justice and true values ​​is what is worth fighting for inside the LDP, and then for the people of the LGBT community. The outcome depends on us, how much we have understood the time in which we live.

You can download the questionnaire here.