Currently, people's anger is largely a result of the inadequate and arrogant behavior of those in power. It is always punished, said in the “Interview in NOVA News” Prof. Mihail Konstantinov, Director of Electoral Analysis and Forecasts at Gallup International Balkan.
Counter-protests organized by “DPS – New Beginning”, took place in more than 20 cities in the country. The demonstrations were in support of the Zhelyazkov cabinet, and their slogan is No to Hate.
A little before 8:00 p.m., the rally in Kardzhali ended, in which the mayors of 7 municipalities participated. They called on their supporters to support a stable state. The mayors said that they need stable governance in order to be able to implement all the projects they have planned in their municipalities. Such were the messages in the other 23 cities.
“There is obviously no ethnic conflict at the moment and hopefully it will remain so. But this is a community with a psychology that we do not know, but we have seen what it can lead to. These people still have the feeling that the state is oppressing them, they know what happened to their parents. This is a family trauma”, believes Prof. Konstantinov.
According to him, it is not a question of fears, but we are not aware of what is happening in this community. “I know what they went through and I know how explosive it is for them to feel oppressed by their state. We managed to integrate these people to the maximum extent. If we reverse the process, it will be very unpleasant”.
“In recent years, a very serious generational change has occurred in the country, and it is also related to the Turkish community in Bulgaria. These are people who have guaranteed rights and freedoms, who are European citizens, who can travel freely, who work in Europe. So what we are currently seeing on the streets of Sofia and the big cities, we will very soon see as a reaction against the elites themselves within the DPS”, explained political scientist Milen Lyubenov.
“Delyan Peevski talked about deribei. But I think there is a younger generation in the community. Even on Facebook we see reactions from people who were MRF sympathizers in the past, but currently do not accept what Peevski is doing. Today there was even a resignation in Haskovo from one of his close associates”, he commented.
According to Prof. Konstantinov, the current anger of the people is the result of the inadequate and arrogant behavior of the ruling party, which is always punished. “The budget has long been forgotten as an occasion, and most people, I fear, did not even understand the details”.
“I am a mathematician and I deal with forecasts. I imagine what will happen - the government falls, we do not manage to broadcast a new one. The roulette wheel passes and we go to elections - March, April, even the end of February theoretically. The elections are coming. First, they depend on whether new players enter or not. If a new player enters, he will take 50 seats from the current parties. The political underdog will disappear from the field. And we have another participant. Who will these people who currently think that the wind is blowing in their sails form a coalition with? With no one”, he believes.
According to him, if Radev's project enters, GERB will remain, albeit with fewer deputies, and “DPS-Novo Nacholu” even with more than now, because there will be a double collapse in the APS. “The small parties are gone. Who do we govern with?”, asked Prof. Konstantinov.
“This wave brings the potential for more people to vote in a possible early election to be held in early spring. Because we see how great this energy is, this is a national protest, covering all the major cities in the country. After the protests in 2020, in the first elections on April 4, which were held in 2020, over 3.3 million voters went to the polls. I think that in an early election within the next 3-4 months we could see a voter turnout of 3.5 million people”, explained Lyubenov.
“It is very likely that a new political entity will emerge, because in 2020 we also saw what the protests of that time gave birth to and what happened in 2021. There is also potential in the current opposition parties, but the biggest request is from President Rumen Rumen Radev”, he added.