For now, the intrigue seems to be who will reach the runoff with Yotova.
This was what Vesislava Tancheva, a communications expert and part of the civil association "BOETS", told BNR.
According to her, the question is "whether we will again make the classic mistake of putting all our eggs in one basket and authorizing a single political structure in a small part of the political spectrum to govern all possible authorities in a country".
The early announcement of the candidacy is currently bringing dividends to Yotova, as she is currently the most prepared candidate. According to Tancheva, the reason for the delay in announcing the nomination for vice president is that:
"They cannot find a sufficiently convincing candidate who would not overwhelm her with her strong aura, that is, who would appear normal and balanced to her, and, on the other hand, would manage to gather the votes of those Bulgarians who believe that women have no place in high politics and that the commander-in-chief of the army must necessarily be male".
"If the Bulgarian People's Party had played with its own candidacy, Yotova's candidacy would not have been strong at all. In no case would her election be guaranteed. It's just that the circles in both parties (BSP and PB) ultimately agreed not to take any chances and let Yotova and her potential vice president, whoever he may be, run.
Tancheva does not rule out the possibility of an organized backstage vote-swapping from the ruling party to another candidate, but she stressed that Yotova is "the most experienced politician who will participate in these presidential elections, beyond any doubt".
Gyurov and Kandev will obviously try to get votes outside Sofia, she added.
Initiative committees are currently a popular formula for nominating a presidential candidate, Tancheva added to "Horizont":
"There is no convincing single-party political player on the field who can say: "We are nominating the party's candidacy", as GERB and BSP. Even the Bulgarian National Party is still building its local structures".
"These presidential elections are something of a litmus test of how exactly the political moods in the country are oriented. If the Bulgarian National Party could have obtained a convincing result in these elections, with a party candidate, I think they would have nominated a party candidate".
In "Before All" Tancheva expressed the opinion that from the point of view of GERB it is logical for them not to run in the elections:
"In the interest of truth, whoever they nominate now, Boyko Borisov, will already look unconvincing against the background of the other candidates who have more or less declared themselves". Borisov's very image as the most convincing candidate from this party has been "quite eroded", but GERB, as the largest party structure in the country, "will probably determine the run-off".
According to her, "Vazrazhdane" is in no hurry to announce its candidacy because of the "unhealthy media environment" and the possibility that the candidate will be "slandered too early and they won't have time in the campaign to clean up his image".
"For me, this late announcement of candidacies is always a mistake, although it has its political logic from a PR perspective, from the perspective of the people who have to vote for the future candidates".
She expects the MRF to try to return to the role of balancer, but "they no longer have the power they had in the previous elections and most likely won't have their own candidacy".