Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
Do you know who is in second place in terms of the number of mayors in Bulgaria after GERB? "DPS-New Beginning" and its leader Delyan Peevski. Without running in local elections, 34 local governors have joined his strategy for regional development, a Deutsche Welle investigation showed. This makes it the second force in local government after GERB, which holds half of the municipalities.
In the last three months alone, the formation, headed by the MP sanctioned for corruption by the US and the UK, has become a center of gravity for local government. Almost every day, a photo of a new mayor with Peevski appears, accompanied by a press release that another one has joined the "New Beginning for the Development of the Regions".
They Changed the Master
Most of these mayors did not change their political affiliation - they changed their master. Obedience in politics is often a matter of benefits, not principles. Many politicians have moved from one party to another over the years, depending on which leader guarantees them that he will protect and feed them.
A large part of the mayors in Peevski's camp were elected with the MRF list in the fall of 2023, when the party reported an impressive 37 mayoral victories in the first round. A year later, in the parliamentary elections in October 2024, over a third of them already declared allegiance to Peevski's formation.
The process accelerated after "DPS-New Beginning" announced firm support for the ruling coalition between GERB-SDS, BSP-United Left and "There is Such a People" (ITN), while assuring that it was selfless. Currently, Peevski's mayors are distributed as follows: Blagoevgrad district - Belitsa, Garmen, Satovcha, Yakoruda; Burgas district - Sungurlare; Vratsa district - Hayredin, Roman; Kyustendil district - Bobov Dol, Boboshevo; Kardzhali district - Kardzhali, Djebel, Chernoochene; Pazardzhik district - Sarnitsa; Razgrad district - Zavet, Isperih, Kubrat, Loznitsa; Silistra district - Silistra, Glavinitsa, Sitovo; Smolyan region - Borino, Nedelino; Stara Zagora region - Galabovo, Gurkovo, Pavel Banya; Targovishte region - Antonovo, Omurtag, Opaka; Haskovo region - Madzharovo, Stambolovo; Shumen region - Venets, Varbitsa, Kaolinovo, Nikola Kozlevo…
This is what the geographical map of the "New Beginning" looks like, Deutsche Welle found - and it goes beyond the areas with mixed populations, where the ethnic composition guaranteed the dominance of the MRF. Among the mayors who have recently discovered the appeal of Peevski's strategy are such as the mayor of Boboshevo Stefan Tachev, nominated by the "Green Movement", and of Hayredin - Todor Aleksiev, who is being investigated for road accidents. The case of the mayor of Gurkovo, Kancho Papazov, who appeared in the local elections as an independent, supported by a bunch of political forces such as GERB-SDF, PP-DB, BSP, ITN, "Vazrazhdane", VMRO, but not by MRF, is curious. In front of the website "For the Truth" he explains the move with Peevski with the argument that he is thinking about the development of the municipality and denies rumors about the initiation of pre-trial proceedings for embezzlement of VAT on a large scale.
The mayor of Silistra, Alexander Sabanov, also has no problem changing horses while making a political career. Over the years, he has been a municipal councilor from GERB and a local coalition with the leading party "New Time", a candidate for mayor with mixed support from the Reformist Bloc, the Greens, VMRO and whoever else, a deputy from United Patriots.
Preparation for the next elections
In the next elections, 34 municipal mayors out of a total of 265 in Bulgaria is a significant advantage. Local government provides stable political influence and feeds business circles and organizations close to the parties, which also explains Peevski's strategy. And in many places, the mayor is followed by both the municipal council and mayors of small settlements.
The process with the tidal wave of mayors towards "New Beginning" has not been observed before in Bulgarian politics and undermines trust in democracy. It erases the votes of citizens - if they were truly the result of their free will, and not of pressure and control. But mayors are elected by majority vote, which gives them greater autonomy from party structures. Mayors with several consecutive mandates also build their own network of loyalty and influence, far exceeding the capacity of the local party structure. Thanks to these connections, they win elections, and the parties use them as winners.
There is also no legal prohibition on a mayor changing his party platform after being elected. And voters cannot recall him - just as they cannot recall a deputy if he breaks away from his group, nor express disagreement through institutional channels until his mandate is over.
Some of the mayors have been in Peevski's camp since the split in the Movement that began last summer, such as those in Kardzhali, for example. The first three on the list of "DPS-New Beginning" for the parliamentary elections in October last year were municipal mayors - the leader was the mayor of Kardzhali Erol Myumyun, followed by his colleagues from Djebel and Chernoochene Nexmi Ali and Aydzhan Ahmed.
But in Razgrad district, which remained in the sphere of influence of Ahmed Dogan and his associates, the breakthrough came later. Of the seven municipalities in Razgrad district, four are already in the "DPS-New Beginning" camp.
Peevski's regional strategy seems to be a magnet for other mayors as well. The appearance on the Bulgarian National Radio of the mayor of Simitli, Apostol Apostolov, who is being investigated in pre-trial proceedings by the European Prosecutor's Office and the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption, did not go unnoticed. He is running for mayor as an independent with mixed party support, and winning his sixth term was marked by a fireworks display. Apostolov told the public media what an ambitious and hard-working boy Peevski was at the dawn of his political career - and how he is now "moving up and is convinced that his time to govern will come". Other panegyrists convince us of how much of a man of the people he is.
The new beginning is actually an old one with a new master.
And the politicians pretend not to see the raiding of the local government.