Young people in Bulgaria have the energy to participate in the destruction of the conquered state, but they remain isolated from the politics that have been taken over by generations that grew up under the totalitarian regime. Will they open the lists for them?
How new the lists will be for the upcoming parliamentary elections is the first political task for the parties - if they want to restore the trust of the voters. The energy of the protesting young people gave a new charge to the civil discontent in Bulgaria as well, which caused the fall of the government. The challenge now is to become a sustainable political representation after the elections - and to maintain its authenticity.
Data from the “Alpha Research“ agency from the elections on October 27, 2024 show that almost a fifth of those who voted - 21% - are young people between 18 and 30 years old. In the upcoming parliamentary elections next year, their share will probably be even higher. According to an analysis by “Trend” from last fall, two political forces are performing particularly well among young voters - PP-DB and the MECH party, where over ⅕ of the voters were between 18 and 29 years old.
The opening of the lists: a test for both parties and protesters
Before the next vote, two political forces with different values gave a sign that they were opening their candidate-deputy lists to active young people from the protests. The first signal came from the PP-DB coalition,
announced on BNT by MP Nadezhda Yordanova. The next - from the businessman Vasil Bozhkov, sanctioned for corruption under the “Magnitsky” case, who announced on Bulgarian National Radio that his party “Center” decided to give the lists “to the protesters, to the GenZ generation” and will provide them with funding. Surely others intend to make proposals.
The opening of the lists will be a test for both the parties and the protesters themselves - whether their participation will preserve the cause of destroying the model of the conquered state or will drown them in compromises, party intrigues and obedience. Young Bulgarians are isolated from equal participation in decision-making processes. There are some exceptions, the result of leader sympathies or backstage elections, and not from established practice. A prime example is Delyan Peevski, who at 21 became the youngest member of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's political cabinet and co-founder of the youth NMSV, at 33 was elected head of the National Security Agency (albeit briefly), and today is a political leader.
Bulgarian institutions and the political mainstream are dominated by representatives of the generations that grew up under the totalitarian regime and in transition, and their decisions shape the future of GenZ - which they themselves will not live to see. The most informed generation, especially active in defending civil rights and environmental causes, remains outside politics.
But it is not healthy for society for young people to stay outside it any longer. The Global Youth Index 2024 also draws attention to the need to include this generation not only as voters, but also as partners in the political process.
The benefits
Including young people from the protests in the candidate lists will break the stale pattern of intra-party nominations and reduce the feeling of closed elites that reproduce themselves.
Their presence can bring back the meaning of representation by energizing it with real causes and social conflicts, not just with party strategies. For Bulgarian politicians, who often choose social networks over work “on the ground”, this is a chance to renew the content of their policies, to learn to speak the language of generations they do not know, and to gain more trust.
For the young activists themselves, participation in the elections is an opportunity to turn protest energy into a lasting influence on decisions. Otherwise, it runs out in cycles of mobilization and disappointment. Their intolerance for the system of dependencies is the fuel for change and restoration of statehood.
Bulgarian politics needs to be recharged with new faces. The group of voters they are “targeting” is much smaller than that of voters of retirement age, who exceed 2 million. But they have something that others do not have - energy for renewal and a willingness not to give up their battles. They may lack skills, but time is theirs. According to national statistics, as of December 31, 2024, the age group 20-34 years old includes nearly 900,000 people.
The Traps
The most serious risk is that the protest energy will be absorbed by party structures that use the new faces as legitimization, without sharing their causes. Thus, all civil pressure can be neutralized.
The battles that are fought in coalitions when arranging candidates for the lists are fierce and far from a real debate. The front seats are reserved for the leaders and the party apparatus, for MPs with experience. The difficulties increase when the lists are coalition.
Young activists can be included in non-electable seats, which turns the entire process into a PR move, rather than an institutional opening. At the same time, entering parliament without political and administrative experience can make new individuals vulnerable to pressure, manipulation and “domestication“ by more experienced party actors.
If they remain outside, they will have no way of influencing decisions about their own future, especially since Bulgaria lacks functioning mechanisms for civic participation. On the other hand, there is a risk of being accused of instrumentalizing their protest for party goals.
Changing the demographic profile, but also ethnic diversity
A test for the angry youth will be to "cooperate" with the hierarchical party model and to what extent they will maintain their independence, regardless of party discipline. In this sense, their inclusion in the lists is a matter not only of presence, but also of changing the very culture of decision-making, to make it more responsible and closer to citizens.
If they are to reflect the social map of the protests, the candidate lists also need ethnic diversity, in addition to changing the demographic profile. Will they find a place for Turks, Pomaks and Roma in them or will they leave the minorities under Peevski's rule? The answers will pave the way for renewal – or stagnation.
This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State Gazette as a whole.