The MPs' vacation is coming to an end soon and the political season is returning. There are still fires burning, there are still places without water - all things to be done. What else… Political scientist Kaloyan Metodiev speaks to FACTI.
- Mr. Metodiev, what does life look like without a parliament? Do you miss the MPs…
- On the contrary. The majority were disgusting to me. Many of the people I saw there are, for me, social scum that has no place in the governance of a working, fair, modern country. Separately, we have different motivations. For most MPs, these are salaries, false social status (to show off) and immunities. Their authority comes from the pass.
Most of them without this institutional-party shell are zeros.
They do not have the attributes of the political. My motivation, as was evident from my work as an MP, is the opposite. Politics is my calling, a craft, I find it interesting, I like it. I was curious. I wanted to become an MP to see how the system works, how it is from the inside, how to change it. I spoke the most about the independents, I proposed laws, working models, defended my voters, communicated with them through meetings and interviews, wrote articles, pressured the government to control me, foreign media covered me... I followed the textbook. While others attacked pregnant women, provoked, lent themselves (an accurate slang expression for infantilism), sold votes, hid immunities. I have nothing to do with these people. They are a waste of time for Bulgaria. The Bulgarian parliament in its current form is for reorganization – reducing the number of deputies and lifting their immunity is the first condition.
- Fires and water shortages – I am referring to the situation in Pleven, this characterizes the last month, but this is not the first time. Why do we talk about the same thing every year, and the next we wonder why it happens again…
- Because there is a lack of comprehensive leadership for governing the country – a model, a system, a direction. Successful leadership strives for organization and structure. It fights chaos. In our country, we have been spinning in a vicious circle for years. On a stuck model that only speaks in the past tense.
Borisov has aged before our eyes and is now governing Bulgaria for the fifth time, not to mention that he did it both as mayor and as chief secretary - the same thing for more than 20 years.
This man is the huge obstacle to the development of the country. Personally, together with the model built around him. Debauchery(s) galore. Now he goes around again and gives away state money for permanent construction of stadiums and churches, and hundreds of thousands are without water, living like animals, we have thousands of fires due to uncut grass, malice, depopulation, lack of extinguishing equipment, poor organization. Put them on the scale. One is PR for the audience, and the second is living life, real problems. Politics is for solving real problems.
Separately, the bureaucracy in our country has become enormous. It is not known who is responsible for what. A jungle of laws and regulations that creates fog, opens loopholes, constantly redirects somewhere, hinders the application of laws. We need to reduce bureaucracy and simplify laws so that things can get started.
- Along with the professionals on the front line during fires, there are also hundreds of volunteers. Why is there still no law on volunteering…
- Because this parliament is barren. And criminal as a genesis. They rigged the elections well – it was seen in the media, it was seen in the decision of the Constitutional Court. However, they are not there for real work. Their salaries are being raised for the second time – now by another 11%. And in the first six months, if memory serves me correctly, they did not even adopt 5 laws. The volunteers played a key role in dealing with the fires. In flip-flops, without equipment, brave young people jumped against the fiery element… Hats off. I'm proud of them. I congratulate them! And this summer my hope is returning. We have potential, people with dignity, honest, ready to help, to fight for causes. Caring for nature and human life. Ecology excites me a lot. This is the mark of a civilized society. And at the opposite pole, salarymen and immunity-seeking deputies. Parasites. On the issue of the volunteering law, it became clear that this parliament not only does nothing, but is harmful to the state. It hinders development.
- And some texts have already passed the first reading in parliament?
- In February, they passed the first reading. Now we are at the end of August, and they are on vacation. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forest burned down, houses, inventory... In Pirin, above Strumyani, the forests will recover after 50 years. It has been like this all summer, and right now there are fires somewhere. The bill has not yet passed the second reading. The ruling majority has other priorities. They are working to fill out the “house book“. For the sale of state properties, they organized two readings in two days. By comparing these two laws, you can see how their priorities are radically different from those of society. For some properties, and for others, fires. And there are no resignations, no responsibility.
- We will accept the euro, but there are settlements without water. What are we not doing as people to solve the problems…
- Bad governance. Specifically about water, because it is a big topic and will be so for years to come - this is not the Sahara. There is water. Someday I will tell you about Jerusalem. It's all about organization, morality, political will. From there, experts are found and they act on the specifics. The formula is the same in the world. And one bracket - some do not vote rationally, and 70% do not go at all.
It will not happen without a common effort, regardless of whether you are disappointed, lied to, disgusted, apathetic.
The state is one organism - everything is connected. We are together! The poisonous air is the same for a millionaire, for a poor person, for a child and for an old man. Cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are common as a scourge for Bulgarian society. Fires, floods, water shortages, bad roads, street thugs, poor quality food, vulgarity, outdated education system, poor healthcare, unfair state pay, broken parachutes or killers with ATVs... I went into a lot of detail, but that's it - everything is common, everything is connected and depends on each and every one of us.
- We also saw flying cars crashing into buses. I'm referring to the incident in Sofia caused by Viktor Iliev. The deputies increased the sanctions for traffic violations. And...
- Sanctions alone won't do it. It can be seen from the statistics. Prevention is also needed. Education and restrictions. The politics of mama's boys must be cut. In Albania, a prosecutor's son with a Ferrari started a process of cleansing the entire judicial system. This is like a bracket. Here we have very bad political and prosecutorial examples. How can I fly in an expensive sports car at 21? Where can I find this model? An ambassador told me: “We don't have such cars in our country. Regulate them through the cars“. Where does a young man get all this money?
We need restrictions - companions, a ceiling on cubic meters for age… Drastic increase in taxes for powerful cars.
Luxury is for mature people. We have a class of nouveau riche who are not ready for the money they have. They have neither culture, nor upbringing, nor psyche. Go ahead, give them expensive limousines, cigars, drugs, phones and pampering the children… but bend the rules. We are not talking about manners, class, dignity, modesty at all. We also need tracks (there are already two, but they are not enough). Whoever wants to go and drive fast - there. To get his energy out to stop racing on the streets. There is a lack of discipline in society, but it comes mainly from politics and its people. It's rotten up there. Here is the missing piece of the puzzle. Of course, there are also conditions for safe driving. There are no normal roads. Missing highways, markings, lighting, there are no shortage of potholes... The asphalt samples from the third term of GERB are still missing, and now we are in the fifth. The RIA gave away 2 million bonuses, a price of 50 million per kilometer of highway (there is no such thing in Europe)... A very sick system. The regional minister and his team, who are responsible for roads and water infrastructure, will bear a very heavy responsibility. They are smiling at people, taking pictures, but what they are doing is inhuman.
- The leader of GERB does not stop criticizing the head of state and expects that after the re-election of the head of the National Security Service, Rumen Radev will approve the selection of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the head of the National Security Agency. In what order do you expect this to happen? Are people clear now, or will we see bargaining...
- The bargaining chips have not stopped. The diplomatic service is currently blocked. Media skirmishes over appointments are ongoing. For a whole year we have been witnessing the takeover of state institutions - regulators, commissions, security services, “house register“...
There is only one Supreme Judicial Council left to close the repressive vision of the state of the ruling majority (GERB-SDF, BSP, DPS-NN and ITN).
I warned Radev not to go to the swearing-in of this government, because it was elected through fraudulent elections - he went and legitimized them. I asked him to file a complaint about the elections with the Constitutional Court - he didn't let him. I asked him on television not to go to the swearing-in of the constitutional judge of the ruling party - he went. I wrote him an open letter to convene the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia about the water shortage to pressure the cabinet (aren't hundreds of thousands without water a crisis, these people are suffering) - he didn't convene. Well, what did he expect? They'll wave "Botas" at him and he'll go home. They do it every two or three months. You have to be consistent and principled. I tried to help him make the right decision, even though I'm not his chief of staff, but he failed. They just talk about motorcades, cars, how many guards each had. Both Radev, Borisov, and Peevski view these services as clubs, tools for elections, protective mechanisms, a crackdown on opponents. And in the end, all of this will turn against them. From the outside, they have their sights set on Radev, Borisov, and Peevski.