The country is preparing for new early elections, with President Rumen Radev playing a key role in the coming months, who is expected to announce a schedule for the electoral process. This was commented on by political scientists Hristo Panchugov and Lyubomir Stefanov on the air of “Your Day“ on NOVA NEWS.
According to Lyubomir Stefanov, the president will give an indication of when the elections will be held, and thus a period of “interesting times“ will begin and a possible rearrangement of forces in parliament.
However, Hristo Panchugov stressed that there is still no clarity regarding the political intentions of the head of state and whether we will see his own political project this year. According to him, the president's behavior on this topic is hesitant and uncertain. “Once again, we see an uncertain Rumen Radev. If he does not enter the political arena now, later it will no longer make sense“, commented Panchugov.
The political scientist expressed hope that the upcoming campaign will bring real change and the parties will manage to convince voters that they have real solutions within the framework of the democratic system. „I want to see politicians who want to change the situation, not just go with the flow“, he said.
The same position was expressed by Lyubomir Stefanov, who also said that he expects surprises from the political formations. According to him, however, the election campaigns over the past two and a half years have not led to any real change. „The parties have not done any work“, he summarized.
Panchugov also drew attention to the change in the political behavior of leaders, who are increasingly relying on a presence on social networks. „Leaders have started to behave like influencers - they measure their views and popularity, but TikTok clips do not carry votes“, he emphasized.
Regarding a possible political project by Rumen Radev, Panchugov expressed doubt about what such a strategy would look like. According to him, it is possible that the president will make a serious political bid, which will probably not win the elections, but may attract the support of a younger generation of voters, which has so far been less involved in politics and does not know the past of established political figures in detail.
Lyubomir Stefanov, for his part, was categorical that the country can function without the president's active role in party politics. “Rumen Radev is not a politician and does not have the experience of Boyko Borisov. He does not have a party, and his attempts to build one have so far been unsuccessful“, said Stefanov. According to him, society no longer even expects the president to emerge as a leading player on the political scene.