A week before the BSP congress, tensions in the party remain high. The National Council of the Socialists is in session, and in parallel with this, the leader Atanas Zafirov and the chairman of the parliamentary group Dragomir Stoynev announced that they will not run for deputies in the upcoming elections.
In the studio of “Offensive“, the member of the BSP National Council Prof. Vanya Dobreva expressed serious concerns that the upcoming congress may deepen the division in the party, instead of providing answers to the accumulated problems.
According to her, the congress is necessary, but only if it has a “very clear mandate“. Dobreva explained that she voted against holding it before the elections, as the main emphasis was shifting to the leadership issue.
Prof. Dobreva was categorical that the BSP had made serious political mistakes, one of which was supporting Bulgaria's accelerated accession to the eurozone: “The fact is that we are currently in a situation of extreme price increases and people are not living well“, she said.
As a second major mistake of the BSP, Prof. Dobreva pointed to the internal party governance model. According to her, the party has gradually become “purely parliamentary“, losing its connection with the structures, experts and sympathizers.
Dobreva was categorical that the change of the chairman in itself will not solve the crisis. “A new chairman will not solve this issue if we do not have a clear answer as to what the left-wing party in Bulgaria should do“, she said. According to her, the BSP must clearly formulate its vision for the country and its place in the European Union, which, according to her, is in an economic and values crisis.