The news after Borisov's loud theatrical posturing has shrunk to a small Facebook status from the GERB party page about a possible rotation of parliament chairmen “when they come to an agreement“ and a humiliating photo of the GERB merger and the new beginning from this morning.
There is no trace of the angry rhetoric. Peevski, through his official statements and morning communiqués, gave three signals to Borisov, who hastily lowered the flags: he will no longer be prime minister, there will be no elections, changes of ministers — too. Peevski does not allow “reformatting“.
This is stated in a PP-DB declaration.
The state was on pause for a whole week. Yesterday — a timid restart with a short meeting of the Council of Ministers, in parallel the Joint Management Council met all day in complete secrecy on how not to reformat the government. Today the parliament returns to a quorum after GERB counted the damage from the gnawing away of the “New Beginning“ in its districts. And from all the pathos, there remained a masterful sketch of the loss in Pazardzhik, played by Borisov in front of pale MPs and ministers. The furiously announced “reformatting“ quietly turned into “upgrading” of nothing.
We repeat clearly: Bulgaria is in a systemic political crisis, because the real center of decision-making has been moved outside the constitutional institutions. Until Peevski is removed from the judiciary and services, the political process will continue to be illegitimate, and the crisis - chronic. The “Cordon Sanitation“, which Borisov was so horrified by, was aimed precisely at taking away the instruments for creating the “state with a capital D” dreamed of by Peevski.
In this environment “reformatting“ is a euphemism for redistribution of power and for legalization - in any form - of the alliance with Peevski. The government is announcing an intermission to rearrange roles and portions in the dark, instead of taking a course towards reforms.
With the recognition of “concession ministries, managed by circles and circles“, Borisov confirmed our motives for the vote of no confidence: this is a self-admission to a conquered state. With captured institutions, real policies cannot happen — neither for the budget, nor for business rules, nor for the security of citizens.
Because “the state with a capital D“ works by other rules and speaks a different language. Instead of modernization, legality and justice — conquered institutions, services and a dependent prosecutor's office, which brandish the institutional stick and produce fear, tension and conflicts.
Our answer is unequivocal: a cordon sanitaire against the model of conquest — isolation of informal influence in the services and the judiciary, an end to backstage quotas and concession portfolios, transparency of negotiations and coalition agreements, real anti-corruption mechanisms and accountability at the top.
This crisis cannot be cured with more paint on the facade. We need transparency, the rule of law and the return of politics to the institutions — where it belongs. Only in this way can Bulgaria exit the spiral of crises and return the normality of the democratic process.
The conquered state is not “reformatted“ — it is liberated!