Macedonia's Embittered Albanians Look to New Parties

Afrim, 22, works in one of the many stores in Skopje's old bazaar and does not seem that interested in politics at first glance. "Don't ask me, I'm not into that," he says.

But after a short conversation on music and girls, he opens up on recent political events - and how they impact on his life.

"Look around. The bazaar is a mess, totally neglected and poorly lit at night. That is how much they [the politicians] care ... Stealing money is their motto.

"I don't vote... but I might if they offered me something different, a brighter perspective," he added.

Albanians make up roughly one quarter of Macedonia's population of 2.1 million and ever since the 2001 armed conflict, two parties have dominated the ethnic Albanian scene.

The junior ruling party in government, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, which rose from the former leadership of the insurgents in 2001, reigns supreme.

It has spent most of the past decade in power as the junior ruling party with the dominant VMRO DPMNE.

Its bitter opponents, the Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, is the main Albanian opposition force.

But the DUI's supremacy is now in jeopardy - as is the future of the DPA.

In June, a new Albanian political movement, Besa, gathered thousands at an anti government protest in Skopje, seeking the resignation of Nikola Gruevski's government and admissions of responsibility also from the DUI ministers.

In July, Zijadin Sela, a longstanding figure in the DPA, formed a new political party after failing to take control over his old party.

Finally, this week, two key members of the DUI, the head of the party's general assembly, Zuluf Adili, and Gzim Ostreni, a former DUI secretary general, said they were...