“The party has not become Peevski's party“. He stated this in the show “Face to Face“ on bTV Taner Ali, co-chair of the APS, in response to a question about how the DPS, associated with Ahmed Dogan, is associated with Delyan Peevski.
In his words, “the party with its cause and ideology remained, only without one letter, like the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms or APS“, emphasizing that the formation is “a follower of our 35-year history“, and not of “some letters that were literally stolen from us“.
Ali expressed confidence that despite the sociological forecasts, the party will enter parliament, emphasizing that “the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms will be in the next parliament“, because according to their data “we know how to research our voters“. According to him, historically “sociologists have never guessed our results. But never“.
He noted that voters have already oriented themselves politically and “know that where Ahmed Dogan is, there is also the MRF“, which in his opinion today means the APS. Ali added that Dogan is active in the country and “you will see him soon“, since “he is everywhere“, including in Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv and Haskovo, where he holds meetings with voters.
Regarding the incident with a gas pistol aimed at Dogan during a party conference and the fact that Ali, together with other people, threw himself at him, he stated that the reaction was “purely reflex“, since those present did not know whether the weapon was real. According to him, the delegates acted to “protect our honorary leader“, emphasizing that “one does not become a leader just like that“. In this context, he commented that “if we are talking about Delyan Peevski, he may be chairman, but he will never be a leader“.
Regarding the political orientation of the formation, Ali pointed out that “we have defined ourselves as a liberal party and will run in the liberal European family“.
Commenting on the participation of the APS in the government, which led to the election of the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov, he explained that the support was conditional. “We had two conditions – to observe the sanitary cordon and have a positive report on the eurozone“, adding that when influence was established “we understood that it could not continue in this way, and we withdrew“.
When asked about the pursuit of power, Ali stated that “there is nothing wrong“ with this, since it is “normal when you support a government, to participate in it“.
Regarding future coalitions, he emphasized that the party is open to talks “on the European and Euro-Atlantic development of the country“, but also outlined lines, indicating that talks would not be held with Delyan Peevski.
In conclusion, Ali stated that with functioning institutions “the state will distribute the portions“.