Ivan Hristanov, one of the first politicians to announce his candidacy for president, is entering the election race with the message “The President of the People“. He is a politician and entrepreneur, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the government of Kiril Petkov and Acting Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet “Gyurov“.
Hristanov commented on his decision to run independently.
“This effort began in June last year with joint talks, precisely so that we could consolidate more efforts“, he told bTV. According to him, talks were held with political formations and there was an idea that, if there was no time for preliminary elections, potential candidates would participate in a public debate.
„We have repeatedly proposed with individual colleagues from the forum, if we did not have time for preliminary elections, to hold a debate. Hall 3 of the National Palace of Culture, we gather a thousand people. Everyone who has declared himself stands up in front of these thousand people, defends his theses“, said Hristanov.
According to him, however, at a certain point the communication between the formations was interrupted.
„Unfortunately, however, at one point it seemed that even the communication was broken and a little later, after a series of political statements, we came to what we have today“, he said.
Hristanov also explained why he chose the slogan “The President of the People“. According to him, the people who support him are not limited to the so-called democratic community.
“Not because I want them, because I see this...“, he said when asked if his goal was to attract a wider circle of voters. He then added that, in his opinion, a large part of the presidents over the past 36 years have been “politically defined“.
“Regardless of whether they were from the ruling party or the opposition, to a large extent they seemed to reduce the authority of the presidential institution, because they were often just an external PR unit of the parliament, the cabinet or the opposition“, the presidential candidate said.
Khristanov believes that the head of state should be independent of the ruling party and the opposition.
“There is an urgent need for a candidate who is proven to be independent of the ruling party and the opposition in parliament. Not to be an appendage, but to be corrective“, he said.
According to him, this is precisely the role he sees for the presidential institution.
He also commented on the case of pardoning a convicted person, emphasizing that there is not enough information to draw a definitive conclusion about the reasons.
“We do not have enough information“, said Hristanov.
He pointed out three possible explanations for such a decision: the person was actually sick and the pardon was an act of mercy, someone stood up for him or cooperated with the services.
“The first – someone stood up for him and there is indeed inadequate behavior on the part of the vice president. The second – he was really sick and it was an act of mercy. And the third option – "he cooperates," the presidential candidate said.
Khristanov said that in his opinion the main problem is the lack of sufficient public information.
„The big problem is that we don't know who it is out of the three“, he said.
According to him, there should be greater transparency around pardon decisions.
„Therefore, the commission to the president and the president's signature itself should be made in conditions of complete transparency. Bulgaria should know how much this signature really weighs“, said Khristanov.