GERB was ready to compromise and support a joint presidential pair with PP-DB, in which the presidential candidate would be nominated by PP-DB, and the vice-presidential candidate – by GERB. However, such a conversation did not take place. This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of GERB Daniel Mitov in connection with the party's decision for the first time since its establishment not to participate in the presidential elections with its own candidate.
„We appealed to PP-DB to nominate a presidential candidate pair that would have a real chance of winning the presidential elections. They preferred something else,“ said Mitov.
According to him, the presidential elections should be approached with “the necessary respect for the weight of the institution itself“, and the parties should take political responsibility for their candidacies.
According to Mitov, the decision for GERB not to have its own candidate is not related to the lack of prepared people.
“If there is a party that has prepared people, it is GERB“, he said.
According to him, the political situation after the last parliamentary elections required a different approach if the goal was to actually win the presidential elections.
“We had to formulate some kind of common front, and not turn the first round of the elections into a battle between us and the PP-DB candidate Andrey Gyurov,“ commented Mitov.
He recalled that Gyurov was elected deputy governor of the BNB with the votes of GERB, and stated that the candidate could have sought the party's support for the presidential elections as well.
GERB leader Boyko Borisov has publicly stated several times that the door for talks with Andrey Gyurov is open. According to Mitov, if a candidate wants to gather wider support, he should talk to the political forces and their leaders.
„When you want to gather support, you turn to the authority for whom a certain segment of Bulgarian society voted“, he said.
Mitov criticized Gyurov's position of not seeking talks with party leaders and defined such behavior as a misunderstanding of the way representative democracy functions.
According to him, PP-DB either „doesn't understand what they are doing“, or their behavior is helping Iliyana Yotova.
Mitov is categorical that specific talks about a joint presidential pair between the two formations have not been held.
The reason, according to him, is that PP-DB was not asked for such.
„We did not hold them because they did not ask such a conversation. Unsolicited support and unsolicited conversations. How can we give it to them when they refuse to talk?“, asked the deputy chairman of GERB.
According to him, the joint candidacy was the only chance to create a “solid candidacy“ that could successfully oppose Iliana Yotova.
Daniel Mitov also revealed what formula he personally supported during the talks within the party leadership. According to him, GERB, as the larger political force, could have made a compromise and let the PP-DB nominate the presidential candidate. In return, the vice-presidential candidate could have been nominated by GERB.
“What would have been the problem if there had been a pair of candidates in which the vice-presidential candidate was from GERB? A Mr. Zapryanov, who was not only our minister, but was also a minister in the government of Andrey Gyurov. "I don't see any conflict," he said.
According to Mitov, such a formula could have been discussed and publicly presented to voters.