Adv. Velislav Velichkov: Peevski lost control of the elections in Pazardzhik after the scandal in Ognyanovo

After the conclusion of the local elections in Pazardzhik… What and how happened on election day and whether this time the vote-buying schemes yielded the expected result. Lawyer Velislav Velichkov from “Justice for Everyone“ spoke to FACTI.

- Lawyer Velichkov, the elections in Pazardzhik are over. You were there and observed them personally. What are your main conclusions from what you saw?
- The main conclusion is that the elections were over even before they started. The votes of a huge mass of people were counted, who were brought like a herd to the polling stations by corporals, lieutenants and colonels of a certain party – “DPS - New Beginning“. And in general, until noon, there was no real electoral process de facto, only the time of the people in the polling stations was wasted, and of those who were involved in the control, the counting, and of the people themselves who went freely to cast their votes. There were entire sections in the villages and city districts that were obviously under the control of two specific groups that were playing with a total of four electoral lists - that of “DPS New Beginning“ and that of the former mayor Todor Popov. Coordination was visible between members of section committees, advocates and intermediaries who brought people or met them in the schoolyards. The places that have been “under control“ there for years were again the main center of electoral activity. But this time things did not develop according to the scenario that certain people and a fairly visible party leader expected. This time, something unusual happened. There were united actions between civil and party activists from different political forces - and from those who otherwise have deep contradictions with each other, such as "Velichye" and PP-DB. When it became clear that a classic scheme with brokers and "notebooks", distribution groups in nearby establishments and direct bringing of voters was being applied, everyone reacted both individually and together later. This confused the organizers' plans. It must be said clearly - without this reaction, the scheme of "New Beginning" would have worked according to the old model. As it was in the village of Ognyanovo until the moment of the "citizen's arrests" and the blocked cars.

- You are referring to the incident in Ognyanovo, which caused a scandal...
- They worked with classic logistics - cars that bring people, tithes, lists of names and telephone numbers and intermediaries with money. But at a certain point, great tension was felt in the villages of Malo Konare and Ognyanovo, and the police and activists began to disperse them, and in some places, vote brokers and brokers were literally expelled. There were three expensive cars - a "Porsche", a BMW and an "Audi", with people who were spotted driving around the neighborhoods and controlling the flow of people to the polling stations. In Ognyanovo, some of these people were caught, but no arrests followed. The people, the cars, the badges, the money were visible... This became a fact mostly for sympathizers and activists of the "Velicie" party, who even followed the cars with a drone, and then blocked two of them in the Roma neighborhood. At that moment, the police and the media did not react, it was only broadcast on the Internet. In the afternoon, nothing could be hidden anymore. The media and observers began to spread the information. It became clear that in Ognyanovo things had gotten out of control for those who usually “hold” the election process. There were also German journalists there, the scandal was becoming international...

- Did this have a national and even international impact?
- The police officers on site in Ognyanovo, who arrived with a huge delay, after a long hesitation and waiting for instructions, still did their job and ordered identification and a search of the cars and the people in them. The most visible result of this was that after 2:00 p.m. the mass queues disappeared from the schools, the polling stations emptied and ultimately a large part of the ordered vote did not take place. Instead of reaching 45-50% voter turnout, which was apparently the goal of the controlled vote, it turned out to be about 35%, which is less than in the elections two years ago. Thus, Peevski lost control of the elections in Pazardzhik after the scandal in Ognyanovo.

- And this led to…
- Due to the low voter turnout, “DPS - New Beginning“ failed to gain a single absolute majority in the Municipal Council. The affiliated groups of the former mayor Popov, who apparently played a shared game with “DPS - New Beginning“, distributed their lists among relatives, friends and former colleagues from the previous municipal council. He himself admitted that this is how they decided to play. But the DPS and Popov's lists have a total of 18 (8 + 10) councilors, which is not enough.

- What does this mean for the balance of power in the municipal council?
- From here on, everything depends on whether GERB and BSP will join the Peevski majority. If they do, they will turn these eight people from MRF into a real majority and will reach 25 councilors. This is already a majority, but only if former mayor Todor Popov decides to play for Peevski and MRF.

- What happened to GERB in these elections? There are six left…
- GERB was swept away, literally, in Pazardzhik, because their influence and brokers were obviously working for “DPS - New Beginning“. This is perhaps the strangest electoral loss for GERB in a large regional city like Pazardzhik - to have a sixth political force line up.

- Did you expect such a result for GERB?
- I was amazed when I saw how things were going in two sections in Malo Konare after the chain was broken. In one section there, about 190 votes were cast by noon, and the total was about 250 at the end of election day, with the section having nearly 1,000 people. There were zero votes for GERB. In another section in the same school with 700 people on the list, where there is a mixed population, GERB had only three votes. GERB has hardly ever had zero votes in a large polling station.

- Is this a signal for GERB…
- In such a future election outcome, Peevski can take the vast majority of their votes and transfer them, so that GERB becomes the third or fourth political force. If Borisov continues to behave like Peevski's serving "maid", serving him in his boudoir, GERB will be marginalized - either it will be sucked out, melted down by "New Beginning", or it will be marginalized and even erased for a while. That is precisely why Borisov was so affected, he literally behaved like a person with bipolar disorder in front of his own parliamentary group. He suddenly and painfully realized that he was no longer the most powerful person in the country and that he had lost control of his own deputies and ministers.

- How did the other parties that have representatives in the Municipal Council cope?
- Those who firmly opposed Peevski, with “We continue the change“, received nearly 1,000 more votes than in the last council and increased their municipal councilors by two. This shows that with good organization and coordination, you can oppose the controlled and bought vote, and get your own good result, by not allowing someone to grow at a huge pace, as Peevski expected.

- And now comes the big test for Mayor Kulinski, who is from the PP-DB?
- Mayor Kulinski turned out to be a very good hit - very successful, very respected. People speak with respect about him, he is combinative, with a good visionary strategy and diplomatic skills. In his first term, he managed to get a majority for his proposals, although a large part of the parties tried to block him. Now he immediately started talks with all political forces.

- What will happen in the Municipal Council, many parties have representatives…
- If a majority is formed against the MRF, as proposed by Assen Vassilev from the PP-DB, and the eight councilors of “DPS - New Beginning“ are isolated, the mayor will be comfortable. However, the question remains how the former mayor Todor Popov will use his 9-10 votes if the councilors from the MIR party also join. If Popov, in pursuit of his business political model, gives them to Peevski, Mayor Kulinski's task becomes very difficult.

- But they are still not enough for a majority?
- This is where the role of GERB and BSP comes in. They will risk a lot if they join the people of Peevski and Todor Popov. I expect the BSP, with three councilors, to try to act in a way that does not look like a crutch for Peevski, but we will see. Whether GERB and BSP will stand with or against Peevski will largely determine their fate on a national scale... I think the mayor will hardly be blamed in the council given these results.

- If there is to be a conclusion from these elections?
- The big question mark after these elections is whether people will start voting. If there is greater electoral activity, things will be different. If people vote, they will not let some with tuxedos and Porsches control the vote. When people do not vote, they actually help the one who controls and buys votes. With a voter turnout of 60-65% in Pazardzhik, the New Beginning would not produce more than 4-5 councilors, together with its satellites, a maximum of 15 people, and would have a stable majority around Mayor Kulinski. And the big question mark that remains has already become apparent - does Peevski have a "private Ministry of Internal Affairs", which acts only on orders and refuses to initiate pre-trial proceedings, despite having enough data and available evidence of vote buying…