A line of division is currently being formed, but it is not as fundamental as it is with regard to the war in Ukraine. This was stated by political scientist Assoc. Prof. Stoycho Stoychev in the program “Panorama” on BNT regarding the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The case with Kiril Petkov is biblical. The greatest judges always reach the point where they are discredited. That is why there is a number of pieces of advice to be careful when judging, so that we do not end up being condemned in the same way. Whether this is the case specifically – I do not know. But in Bulgarian politics, the topic of the fight against corruption, of the new morality, of the new generation of politicians, of the cleaner, the smarter, the fairer, the more powerful, has long been a topic. For 24 years I have been dealing with political projects that come with a similar request and so far none of them have managed to achieve the goal they stated, which means that there is some significant problem, he explained.
My thesis is that this happens by personal example, and not so much through institutions. Because institutional solutions are quick solutions, they give people hope that they can make changes without effort - someone else will take power instead of them and expect them to perform miracles. In the end, they are faced with the reality that there is no change, because on a purely personal level, the majority of citizens resist these rules and want to live the old way, emphasized Assoc. Prof. Stoychev.
The vote of no confidence is trying to bring back public attention to the other part of the parliamentary sector that has been overshadowed by this scandal. What could change structurally is to reorganize this segment of Bulgarian society that votes for this type of political projects. I do not mean the politicians who are discredited, but the voters who stand behind them and support these politicians because they believe in change. In fact, the generational change that comes with PP-DB and other parties is not driven by them, it has happened in Bulgarian society because new generations have emerged that think differently from the previous ones. Currently, this new generation is entering a paradoxical situation of a crisis in representation, because the people they supported turn out to be a new version of what they opposed. Ultimately, this crisis of representation can either lead to more apathy among these young and active people, or the opposite – to lead to a new type of political organizations that claim their votes. In any case, the current cards on the table do not correspond to these voters, for example, the presidential project does not appeal to such people and would hardly be able to win them over, predicts Assoc. Prof. Stoychev.
According to the political scientist, all this work began with the arrest of the opposition leader Boyko Borisov by Kiril Petkov personally, as Prime Minister. When there is such pressure, people who are in public positions should have one thing in mind about these things and should be as careful as possible about getting involved in such conversations. If this is allowed, it means that either there is a feeling of untouchability, or the potential risk of being discredited is underestimated. The very fact that even Mr. Petkov does not deny the existence of these things means that a big mistake was made, and if they were stupid enough to get involved in something like this, given that the institutions are watching them, we can attribute it to strategic negligence, the political scientist admitted.