The BSP is heading towards the most difficult period of its existence in more than 80 years. If the instinct for self-preservation of the party's active members does not work this time, the BSP will simply follow the fate of all other former communist parties in Central and Eastern Europe, which remained on the field after 1989, but gradually lost themselves in political non-existence. This was said by political scientist Assoc. Prof. Boris Popivanov in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the World in Focus" on Radio FOCUS.
A significant part of the BSP's party active members categorically do not consider the coalition government to be successful, he noted. "Something more - they believe that the BSP has completely lost its face in the shadow of Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski and that it cannot implement any of its policies. The maximum of achievements that they can realize in government is at the mercy of the larger participants. The leading common consciousness is that with this leadership and with this chairman, the chances of the BSP in the April elections will not be good at all“, commented Popivanov.
According to him, the participation of the left with its cadres in the government was a mistake. “It became clear that the government depends to a very high degree on the support and will of a party that is outside it – of – – DPS – Nova nacholu“, and then a significant part of the socialists had enough. For more than 15 years they have resisted any type of cooperation with Boyko Borisov, but Delyan Peevski has already triggered certain red lines“, explained the political scientist.
For the majority of left-wing voters in Bulgaria, Rumen Radev was their president. "He embodied what they did not see in their own party - determination, categoricalness, courage to express positions, including international ones, which strongly impressed left-wing sympathizers", explained Boris Popivanov.
Regardless of Rumen Radev's entry into the political arena, however, according to him, the election result for the BSP is not predetermined. "There is undoubtedly a possibility that they will not be able to overcome the 4 percent barrier to enter the National Assembly, but this is not completely certain. There are still many socialist voters who are disappointed with their party, but if they see a clear signal of change, of a new type of message, of new faces at the helm of the party, they could give their party a final credit of confidence. Therefore, what will happen at the Congress is very decisive. With Zafirov's leadership, the result would be doomed," the political scientist believes.
The new leadership must clearly and categorically show voters that it is not compromised and does not accept compromise from its previous partners in government, he emphasized. "The second condition is that it is able to cooperate and govern with Rumen Radev after the parliamentary elections. The perspective is there, it just needs to be turned into a consolidating, mobilizing factor. It is very difficult and at this stage it seems that the chances are not in this direction, but if there is any chance, it is in the search for such a dual perspective. The minimum that should be seen as a desire for change is a new composition of the Executive Bureau and a change in the approach to the leaders of the list, taking into account the local factor," explained Boris Popivanov.