Today is the day when we honor the victims of the communist regime. It is also 82 years since the first verdicts of the so-called People's Court, which sentenced representatives of the political and military leadership of Bulgaria to death.
There is no exact data on how many people lost their lives during the rule of the totalitarian government, it is believed that they were close to 18 thousand. In “The Stories of Maria Yotova“ - the series “Witnesses of the Transition“ we meet Dimitar Ludzhev, one of the so-called first wave of politicians who took over Bulgaria after the communist regime.
“This day is a symbol of the communist regime. People talk about victims, but few realize that a large part of the Bulgarian intelligentsia was shot then“, said the former Deputy Prime Minister (1990-1991).
According to him, the whole point was to change the system, which had to be done through peaceful, liberal means. “A large part of us were in the dissident movements. For us, this was a fight against the regime and a fight for democracy. None of us were professional politicians, but the course of events turned us into politicians – some became statesmen, others - not“, Ludzhev emphasized.
Ludzhev recalled the turbulent events of June 11, 1990, which he called “the child of the revolution“. “Sofia was flooded with protesters. People were crying because they did not expect to lose the elections. I arrived from Burgas and saw how the medical staff was detained at the entrance. We were trying to convince people not to resort to violence so that the tragedies like in Romania would not be repeated“, he said.
On the topic of modern politics, Ludzhev was critical: “There is no room for comparison between the first democratic elections and the current ones. The current struggle is for power and clientelistic interests. There is a lack of people with statesmanship who can carry out the necessary reforms to modernize the country“.
He also noted the deficit of strong statesmen in our country: “The deficit is large in our country. Ivan Kostov had managerial capacity, but after that there is no one to match him. Personal degradation is the main problem of Bulgarian politics“.
Ludzhev also shared memories of international meetings: “In Europe I saw great politicians like Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Gorbachev – they are no longer there. In our country such personalities almost do not exist. Politics today is politics, partisanship and games of group interests. The main motivation is money and power“.
Regarding the formation of the first democratic government, Ludzhev recalled: “I proposed Dmitar Popov to President Zhelev for prime minister. The search for a suitable candidate was difficult – there were political agreements and parity between the opposition and an independent prime minister. This was one of the decisive moments of our revolution“.