Between them they have at least 24 seats in the new parliament elected on November 15 this year. Although the VMRO has a majority in the 120-seat parliament, it is likely to include at least one Albanian party in the government, thanks partly to Western pressure to maintain Macedonia's ethnic stability. Albanians were also represented in the outgoing government led by the ex-communist Social Democrats. They are substantially under-represented in most public positions such as the military, police and civil service. Even in an overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian town such as Tetovo, the chief of police is a Slav.
Macedonian politicians say they are working to end such under-representation.
They point to a lower educational levels among some Albanians as a stumbling block. But Albanians retort that the Macedonian authorities are preventing the development of Albanian-language education. The government in Skopje has denied official status to the University of Tetovo, now operating privately as the country's only Albanian-language university. But whatever the reasons for the lack of jobs, it is clear that severe unemployment among the young is breeding serious discontent. The town of Debar sits high on a hill in the far west of Macedonia, just five minutes drive from the Albanian border.