Where and how has the debate about the presidential race shifted, commented on "The Network" on the "Hristo Botev" program Vesislava Tancheva, a communications expert from the civil movement BOETS.
"For the first time, we are witnessing an exceptionally constructed, professional campaign, which has everything – a strong positive line to create positive expectations from a specific candidate, with absolutely all the instruments of power mobilized for this purpose. I emphasize – only and only of the power", said in the "The Network" program on the program "Hristo Botev" the communication expert.
According to Tancheva, in the current election situation, an unprecedented mobilization of the entire state apparatus and public resources is observed in order to favor a certain presidential candidate pair, while the other participants are placed within strict legal and financial frameworks.
"This includes access to national media, the opportunity to communicate freely with all media institutions in the country and to create events when necessary.
The use of historical events for political dividends
Asked about the media coverage and public response surrounding the return of the bones of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil to Bulgaria, Vesislava Tancheva expressed the opinion that the state ceremony and the free transportation provided for citizens were carefully planned by the government to achieve a PR effect precisely during the campaign:
"The whole fuss – otherwise fully deserved, around the welcoming of the bones of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil - was directed very early, and only by the Bulgarian government. It accepted it with joy and built this event as a PR construction in a way that would awaken patriotic feelings in the population. Subsequently, these feelings were "cashed" as dividends for the government, while the merits of everyone else were largely ignored. After waiting 60 years, they could have waited another 60 days to end the campaign."
In her words, such an approach is completely logical from the point of view of political marketing, but it reveals the double standards in the use of power levers:
"Of course, if we were in their place, we would probably do everything possible to create this event right now, in order to arouse positive expectations among voters. So this part of the campaign is understandable. But at the same time it is said: "Your transportation to Sofia is free, so you can celebrate with us and our candidate"."
Black PR and the "Plan B" strategy
Vesislava Tancheva explained the mechanisms by which, according to her, the parallel negative campaign is being conducted, aimed at compromising political opponents:
"At the same time, the so-called "plan B" of every political campaign is being conducted in parallel - the one that should make your opponent unconvincing and unelectable, in order to confirm that you are the only one who deserves the people's trust. All kinds of qualifications are now being attached to opponents - including that they are incompetent, incapable of governing, and even offensive qualifications. All this happens with absolute impunity, because these epithets are never held to account. They are attributed to another circle that helps the campaign of the main candidate."
She explained that this outer circle consists of behind-the-scenes and pre-political factors that do not have their own public candidates, but enter into tacit agreements with the leading players.
Hidden coalitions and electoral attitudes
In connection with the role of major political forces such as GERB and DPS, Tancheva emphasized that despite the official rhetoric and their public distinctions, their structures indirectly support the presidential candidate pair of the ruling party:
"There are political circles that do not have their own candidates, but obviously enter into agreements with at least one of the leading candidates. There are indications in local and regional structures that they are working indirectly for the ruling party's candidate. They continue to direct their feud with the so-called "democratic community", which stands behind the other presidential candidate pair, while at the same time directly working to organize votes for the pair, which includes the current incumbent president."
Regarding GERB voters who believe in the Euro-Atlantic orientation of their party, Tancheva expressed the opinion that they are trapped and will most likely prefer not to go to the polls:
"And it is precisely these people who will do the greatest favor to one of the presidential couples by simply not going to vote – because they will decide that there is no one for whom. They will be encouraged by the party headquarters with the following message: "If you do not want to fulfill our silent call to support the specific presidential couple, then do not vote at all". And they really won't go to the polls."
In her words, it is about a deep continuity between the authorities and the preservation of the influence of old economic and political networks:
"What we have always claimed is that there is a tacit – and sometimes quite explicit – collaboration between the previous rulers in the person of GERB and MRF and the then president, which has persisted to this day. Despite some friction, disputes and publicly expressed explosive relations, they continue to have a common interest. This interest is that the good old structure, which kept the money inherited from the State Security and the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, should not be touched in any way. Called in standard criminal terms – the mafia to preserve its interests in all options, regardless of how the power structure in Bulgaria changes."
Tancheva added that the declared intentions to fight corruption and oligarchy remain only words:
"It was claimed that the first thing that would be done was to fight corruption and oligarchy and free the country from this grip. But there is no such data. Just look at what is happening, for example, with the construction of roads – the good old companies that should have been investigated for missing money from the highways, these same companies will build highways under the new government. Not only highways – they will most likely also implement the largest upcoming infrastructure projects."
Voter intimidation and police pressure in places
The conversation also touched on the topic of pressure on voters in smaller settlements. According to Vesislava Tancheva, intimidation methods continue to be applied in regional centers to guarantee the desired election result:
"Before the elections, two or three influential opinion leaders in a smaller settlement are beaten up so that the others are sufficiently scared. Because elections in Bulgaria are held exactly like that - you either buy them or scare them. And this is again a mafia principle: you don't need to pay someone if you can scare them enough."
She cited specific examples and emphasized that law enforcement agencies are often used for such pressure.
The political use of serious criminal incidents
According to Tancheva, the institutions are trying to quickly extract dividends and build a heroic image of key figures from the Ministry of Interior in connection with the murder in Plovdiv.
"The skeptical Bulgarian voter will never accept as a given the lightning-fast capture of a murderer who, until yesterday, could have been a contract killer. In this case, he was captured most likely precisely because he is not a contract killer - if he were, he would never have been revealed, because to this day we have not caught a perpetrator of a contract killer. The question is what dividends the government derives from this situation."
The "Petrokhan" case and the media curtain
Regarding the "Petrokhan" case and the press conferences held immediately before the start of the campaign, Tancheva stated that the case is being deliberately used to cover up other compromising revelations – such as those about pardons and debt forgiveness.
According to Tancheva, the truth about "Petrokhan" was deliberately hidden from the public by refusing to declassify the materials in parliament.
Inequality in the election race
In conclusion, Vesislava Tancheva emphasized that the main institutions, media and security structures work in favor of only one of the candidates, which calls into question the equality in the election process:
"This entire toolkit – including the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the work of the media, which are dependent on the executive branch, as well as the executive branch itself – is available only to one of the presidential candidate pairs. None of the other presidential candidate pairs has access to these tools for influencing public opinion."