We have been in an election campaign for a long time. Perhaps this assembly, which was assembled with difficulty and with a rather fragile glue, gave each of the participants the opportunity to prepare for this development of the situation in advance. This is what Assoc. Dr. Alexander Hristov said – university lecturer, chairman of the Bulgarian Association of PR Agencies and member of the Bulgarian Society for Public Relations, in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the world in focus" on Radio "Focus".
In his words, the hard cores of the political parties can be shaken because of the fatigue of the continuous elections: "Therefore, we see a turn mainly to the hard cores, who have to come out, although less enthusiastic , than before, and support political power. In the future, we may also see an appeal to some new audiences", predicts Prof. Hristov.
The party that currently leads in sociological surveys is GERB. She is consistent in her messages and communication with the electorate, he noted. "It's actually wonderful for them because it gives opportunities to rally and rally these people who may be a little wavered but still continue to believe and vote in that direction. The symbolism of the other communication signals is also extremely telling – opening of the campaign in Stara Zagora, in the center of the country, with one of the most successful regional mayors, again requests to solve problems accumulated over time. For better or worse, GERD has formed a bit like a "teflon" party – they really don't like their blunders – something like DPS. It would take something truly monstrous to bring them down. This accumulates over time. This is capital accumulated over many years", commented the PR expert.
"We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria" also rely on the familiar rhetoric, he noted. "However, in my opinion, it is necessary for them to go outside, not on the yellow pavements, not in front of the National Theater, because to some extent these voters have been won over. They need to reach out to the people in the countryside who are frustrated, who want to solve their problems at the local level. I think they are acutely aware of this," says Associate Professor Hristov.
According to him, Hristo Ivanov is a visionary and is trying to expand the influence of political forces in the coalition and among other voters.
The communication strategy of the DPS and the mobilization of the electorate are developing in a different way, and the activity in places is much stronger, the expert noted. "The figure of Peevski is irritating, perhaps precisely because he incites others against the DPS, but at the same time he can have a unifying influence. Regarding Elena Yoncheva – from a communication point of view, I've always been very skeptical of these types of "political pancakes", whether they can mobilize. They cannot take some image positive from their voters from their previous party and transfer it to the new one. This is absolutely impossible, especially for figures with quite serious exposure, such as Elena Yoncheva and Yavor Bozhankov. These reversals happen suddenly and the image capital of these figures and of the political forces very quickly pours out", commented Alexander Hristov.
He noted that the transformation under Peter Volgin, who became one of the candidates of "Revival" in the lists for the European elections, has been going on for a long time and in this sense it is easier to perceive.
In his words, it will be extremely interesting how the leftist votes will be dispersed between the leftist political forces in the form of the BSP and "Solidary Bulgaria". "On the one hand, we have a sufficiently stable political force with a relatively stable, if rather erosive electorate, and an extremely impotent superintendent. On the other hand, we have Vanya Grigorova, who knows how to captivate and attract, also because she has been quite close to people for a long time. All the political forces in the left space will obviously and expectedly strum the string of the social, of the opportunities for the "poorer people", for the "little man", for all the clichés that they have been using for a long time and for which they naturally have some truth audience", Prof. Hristov expects.
According to him, "Blue Bulgaria" has the potential to enter the next parliament. "This formation is associated with right-wing conservative ideas in the economy and politics, with attention to small business – it's an area and a group of people that I see almost no one touching, with little entrepreneurship, even with the interests of big companies. If "Blue Bulgaria" manages to unite this type of still ununited people into one, they could win", believes the PR expert.
"There is such a people" according to him, the party still remains a mystery. He does not see sustainability and a clear profile in its supporters. "The party is strongly concentrated around its leader. They cannot get a readable message, policy. We will hardly see anything from them, apart from some communication pollution", he commented.
Assoc. Alexander Hristov expects a campaign based on a kompromat war.