Counterspin: Nikoloski, Again, Mentions Children For Gathering Political Points

Spins are a speciality of politicians and politics from early in history until today, and this phenomenon is present in our country as well. What is inadmissible and very worrying is that using them for political points, politicians, and in this case, Aleksandar Nikoloski and his party, do not pay attention to children’s rights. And those rights are violated by the unnecessary mention of children who are victims of sexual harassment and who already use psychological help to cope with the consequences

 

Author: Teofil Blaževski

 

VMRO-DPMNE Vice-President, Aleksandar Nikoloski, in a statement regarding the scandal with the scout camp, expressed claims in which there is a distortion of the truth, i.e. a spin:

Spin: There will be someone responsible. We will call Petre Shilegov to say why he gave money to associations, to scouts who desecrate our children, who destroy their lives. Why did he give money for violation of family values? Is their goal to destroy the traditional family in Macedonia and to destroy children? To date he has not given a relevant answer. If he really has nothing to do with the whole thing, why not ask for a refund and for those who did it to be held accountable? He will not do this because it is part of an agenda to destroy the Macedonian family.

[Source: Kanal 5/YouTube – An. Nikolovski (2.23 – 3 minute) – Date: 3 October 2021]

 

Counterspin: The second man of the first opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, in the pre-election atmosphere, talking about the local elections in general and what will happen after their completion, touched on the scandal with the summer camp of the First Skopje Scout Squad, for which a preliminary investigation is underway into possible sexual harassment of minors. Nikoloski claims that there would be someone responsible for the government in general, and in that context for the first man of the City of Skopje, Petre Šilegov. In this statement of Nikoloski, there are distortions of the truth, i.e. spins.

In these few sentences, there are at least two spins. The first spin is related to the responsibility of the City of Skopje and Šilegov as Mayor because he financed activities “of associations, of scouts who desecrate our children, destroy their lives.” This spin is glaring because it turns out that the City, with the signature of the Mayor and with the approval of the Council (such is the procedure for all funding of civil society organizations or sports clubs or other professional associations supported by the City of Skopje) financed illegal activities.

The City of Skopje immediately denied this claim with a statement which precisely states that the application for financial support of the activities of the Skopje scout squad did not mention the specific “sexual training” which is now subject to pre-investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office:

We would like to inform you that in the project documentation submitted to us, the disputed activity was not mentioned nor have they submitted any information that would indicate its occurance. Additionally, the participants in the event participated in a private direction and were not organized by the schools. Having in mind that the event that happened caused an avalanche of negative reactions in the public and shocked us as an institution, the City of Skopje terminates the contract with the First Skopje Scout Squad.

And this is true, having in mind the mission and the vision and the activities according to the annual programs of the scouts. This can be seen by visiting the website of the Union of Scouts of Macedonia, which also decided to suspend the First Skopje Scout Squad from membership in the Union.

Thus, the first spin is obvious: the City of Skopje and Šilegov did not know what the First Skopje Scout Squad elders would implement at the summer camp, the funding document was passed by the Council, and immediately after the scandal the contract with this Scout Squad was terminated. Is it possible to ask for a money refund in such termination of the contract is a question that shall be answered by lawyers. Moreover, this shall serve as a lesson for the city to implement stronger controls for the given money in the future.

The second spin is even stronger in terms of disinformation. The government, in this case, the local one, represented by one man, Petre Šilegov, gave money for the destruction of the traditional Macedonian family – to destroy the lives of young people, and would not seek responsibility “because it is part of an agenda to destroy the Macedonian family .“

This spin also includes a “foreplay”, i.e. many of the media reported that such activities of this Scout Squad were funded by the Soros Foundation in the country, i.e. the Foundation Open Society-Macedonia, because of the denial sent by FOSM immediately showed that it is manipulative news.

But, knowing that the Soros Foundation is to blame for everything bad in the country, always by the conservative public and conservative parties, such as VMRO-DPMNE, it was obviously enough for Nikoloski to utter this spin – “agenda for the destruction of the Macedonian family “, without any relevant data or arguments.

Spins are a speciality of politicians and politics from early in history until today, and this phenomenon is present in our country as well. What is inadmissible and very worrying is that using them for political points, politicians, and in this case, Aleksandar Nikoloski and his party, do not pay attention to children’s rights. And those rights are violated by the unnecessary mention of children who are victims of sexual harassment and who already use psychological help to cope with the consequences.

 

 

 

 

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