Since the beginning of the election campaign, the program “120 minutes“ on bTV has been inviting, according to a regulation developed by the television, leaders of lists of parties and coalitions that are running in the early parliamentary elections on April 19.
Based on data from the sociological agencies that bTV works with, the invitations are to the leading political formations and those that are around the 4 percent barrier. From the PP-DB on March 29, Asen Vassilev - leader in the 29th MIR - Haskovo and the 16th MIR - Plovdiv-city and Malena Malcheva - candidate for MP in Burgas and in the 23rd MIR - Sofia.
The two outlined the priorities of the coalition – judicial reform, limiting the influence of the “old model“ and more policies for the young.
According to Assen Vassilev, the protest energy has not disappeared, but continues to accumulate.
“People are really fed up. They want the Borisov-Peevski model to end once and for all and to stop stealing from them through the budget. It is very important for people to go out and vote so that Peevski and Borisov can fall below 80 MPs and 160 votes can be collected for judicial reform,“ he said.
One of the new faces on the lists - Malena Malcheva - explained her motivation for entering politics.
“For as long as I can remember, I have been watching them lie and steal from us. It has come to this. We are tired of standing on the sidelines. There must be policies that really help young people, because there is money - the question is how it is spent,“ explained Malcheva.
Vassilev made direct criticism of other political formations, including Rumen Radev.
“There are many compromise figures and people from the old system on the lists. This cannot lead to real change. You cannot say that you will fight the oligarchy, but rely on people connected to it,“ commented Vassilev.
The main emphasis for the PP-DB is judicial reform.
“A new Supreme Judicial Council without dependencies must be elected and the possibility of the Prosecutor General to influence specific cases must be terminated. Without 160 votes, there can be no real reform“, Vassilev pointed out.
Among the proposed measures is a serious administrative reform.
“There is no need for 20 ministries. There can be 12. This will reduce the administration and speed up the work. Culture and tourism can be one ministry – that way there will be better coordination. What we are saying is that in the state administration there are people who do their job and who really work. Everyone who is in the state administration knows that there are also many people who are there simply because they are someone's man. Or by coincidence and do absolutely no work. They even get in the way. And this process in the Ministry of Finance happened in 2022-23. Some 15% left the staff. The work of the Ministry of Finance did not get worse. Nor has anything slowed down or stalled, I would even say that things have sped up“, commented Vassilev.
Malcheva emphasized policies aimed at young people.
“Only by saving costs, such as the security of Borisov and Peevski, can kindergartens be built. We need a complete ban on gambling advertising - not only on television, but everywhere in public space“, she explained.
When asked about possible cooperation with GERB, Vassilev was categorical:
“No chance. First - we don't trust them. Second - we can't talk about reforms with people associated with the old model.“