I was personally surprised by Kiril Petkov's resignation, because this type of behavior is not in Mr. Petkov's style. Moreover, he behaved in a completely different way a day or two before that. On the other hand, however, following some political logic, it does not seem so surprising, because this is a political startup. He said this in an interview for the show "Newsroom" on Radio "Focus" political scientist Strahil Deliyski.
A political startup without a cause
"We Continue the Change“ never became a party with a clear profile, project and organizational structure. It remained at the level of a political startup that was supposed to realize certain goals and interests of its creators through crowdfunding, through sponsors. And the moment you have a problem with the way this startup functions, with the ability to satisfy the interests of the owners and sponsors, then the most normal thing is for the people who created it to give up or "sell" it to someone. In this sense, it doesn't seem so illogical“, he added.
The fight against corruption as a conceptual political cause
“I don't think any kind of restart or purge is possible. Metaphorically, if we talk about a restart, it means that we are talking about some kind of mechanism, a machine. Purification is a metaphor related to the organism. Neither mechanism nor organism are metaphors that can be applied to “We Continue the Change“. This is a political startup that has no real political cause. The fight against corruption cannot be a conceptual political cause — it needs much more than that. I don't remember anyone coming to power in Bulgaria without promising the voters a fight against corruption. The imagination of the creators of “We Continue the Change“ is a business imagination, not a political one. In this sense, I do not see any resource for the PP to continue to exist in its current form, and no resource to take any step towards upgrading it“, the political scientist further commented.
According to him, Assen Vassilev would not be able to bear the entire burden of the PP after the resignation of Kiril Petkov.
Systemic, legalized corruption
"The basis of this scandal are some public procurements and companies that receive the public procurement return some money to those who awarded them this procurement. This is the classic neoliberal state, in which, on the principle of "the state/municipality is a bad manager“ everything must be privatized or given to concession, private interest is placed on the terrain of public resources. It is natural that the basis of private interest is profit. At the same time, participating in this game, politicians realize that they do not depend so much on democratic relations with their own voters as on their sponsors. These are the people to whom they, as politicians, give the opportunity to realize their private interest through public procurement. This is an inherent system of this mechanism of public-private partnership, which was supposed to replace the "bad state/municipality". This is the essence of this mechanism. If we have a private mechanism in the public sphere, it is normal to come to this.“
When you introduce yourself as a white warrior
"However, some immediately say: "Look how no one forgives "We Continue the Change", and how many incidents do we know about GERB and the previous ones, but…“. Here is the big difference. Mr. Borisov and GERB have never had any claim to absolute purity, they followed the principle of "maybe they are stealing, but at least they are doing something". This is the imagination of the public. A startup comes along that says: "We are different from everyone else because we don't work this way", but it turns out that they don't work. You can't work any other way — the system functions this way, unfortunately. This is systemic, legalized corruption. However, when you say: "I am the white warrior against the bad guys", this affects you, unlike those who do not claim to be the "white warrior". They are forgiven", believes Strahil Deliyski.
The Empty Pretense of Fighting Corruption
"It is very easy to seek initial political legitimacy through the fight against corruption, but "fighting corruption" is an absolutely empty concept. If you want a meaningful political existence, not just a startup that will quickly realize the interests of a few people, then you have to go beyond that. The PP did not do it, they stayed on this terrain – this will have a detrimental effect on them“, he added.
Coalition time is running out
According to him, the paths of the PP and the DB will part: "It is a matter of time. What is currently holding them together is the DB's understanding that it will be difficult for them to succeed electorally on their own. I am not convinced that this will last long. In the context of the presidential debates that began in the so-called "pro-European democratic community", things will get complicated and I don't believe that this coalition will be revived. This is a normal political process", Deliyski also said.
Erosion of public trust?
He did not rule out that recent events could lead to an even greater erosion of public trust. "At the moment, Borisov is not just being resuscitated, he is the key player. This happened because of the lack of imagination in the political startup that was supposed to bring about change. Well, there is no way that the next bearer of the new, of the change, will be accepted with an open heart — this is normal."
Radev's political project – a function of wishful thinking
When asked whether a field is opening up for a new political project, Deliyski quoted Todor Zhivkov: "Every day, every hour, everywhere there is material" – in this case as a carrier of change. "Naturally, there is such an expectation. I don't think that we are currently in a situation where anyone can meet these expectations. All speculations about the president seem to me to be more a function of wishful thinking than a sober analysis of the situation. If someone thinks that suddenly Radev will announce some project and with it will ignite the imagination of millions of voters — this is unrealistic.“
No elections, at least until the presidential vote
Strahil Deliyski does not expect early elections: "The majority is working well and there is no alternative political agenda. The main reason for early parliamentary elections is different from the ruling party, who want to rule. There is no such thing at the moment. I do not believe that there will be such processes, at least until the presidential election.“