„In 2001 there was an elation, because Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is a man with enormous authority in the world. He was received very warmly by the Bulgarian people. Very often, after such euphoria, a certain retreat occurs due to the great expectations”, the former Speaker of the National Assembly and ex-service Prime Minister Prof. Ognyan Gerdzhikov told ”In Focus”.
„We were enthusiasts. A large part of us had no political experience, we were university professors, but with the good will to do something positive. I remember how Plamen Panayotov came to campaign for me for the National Assembly. I told him that I was not interested in politics and he told me not to think only about myself, because this was a turning point for Bulgaria. After ten days I accepted”, says Prof. Gerdzhikov.
“It would have been much better for Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to be the president of Bulgaria. That suited him the most, because he sat on the right side of the English queen, he was welcome everywhere, while the prime ministership required an operational attitude, which he did not have. He himself did not want to become prime minister”, he recalls.
”It has something to do with the appearance of Rumen Radev on the political scene, because a nationwide upsurge is showing. I am convinced that this administration of Rumen Radev will be successful, stability will come. The large majority inspires me with such hope first of all, and secondly, the figure of Rumen Radev himself, who has the qualities,” commented Prof. Gerdzhikov.
According to him, the search for a “savior” is a matter of folk psychology. “A person is designed in such a way that he looks for something positive and if he sees something like that somewhere, he bets on it. Very rarely do great expectations come true. We need to be a little more moderate in our expectations so as not to be disappointed later,” he believes.
“The Tsar did relatively well. The economy was doing well then, we had no debt. I think that this was a good governance of Bulgaria,” he added.