“Every day we are in the field among the people to hear what worries them. This is mostly the drama with income and concerns about security – whether we will be drawn into war”. This was commented on the show “Crossroads” by Tsoncho Ganev, leader of the “Vazrazhdane” list in the 23rd MIR in Sofia and Burgas.
Ganev commented that for the first time we are seeing a campaign with multiple debates, which is good so that the voter can make an informed choice. “There is a real opportunity to see a clash of ideas, policies and the discrepancy in what is being said and the specific actions. This is extremely useful. Unfortunately, the leaders of almost all parties, with the exception of “Vazrazhdane”, refused to enter a leadership debate”, Ganev commented.
As part of the “Vazrazhdane” economic team, he has participated in several debates related to the economic programs of the parties that will most likely enter the next parliament.
”Vazrazhdane” with its vision for economic development, for ending everything that is happening to us in economic life, may be sitting alone”, Ganev explained.
According to him, Rumen Radev's formation, which is expected to become the first political force in the next National Assembly, does not show a vision for economic development.
”Without finances and national security, you cannot fully govern the country. There is a way out of this spiral of permanent impoverishment, especially after we enter the eurozone. There are concrete steps and decisions that can be taken by the next government. This will be the price for us to support the next government if we are invited to talks,” said Ganev.
Since “Vazrazhdane” they do not believe in sociology.
“They are currently giving us about 8%, but just a few days before that they were giving us 4.5%. Then 6%, then 8% – and all this within a week. This is impossible from the point of view of statistics, real life, as well as real electoral processes. The sociological data is currently extremely manipulated, non-objective, unreal. We will find out what will happen on election day,” said Ganev.
For “Progressive Bulgaria” Ganev recalled that when Radev was president, representatives of “Vazrazhdane” had been to a number of consultations with him and then clearly and precisely argued their positions.
“When he was about to leave office, we reached out to him and called on him to work together in the name of policies. Unfortunately, his program, which was officially presented at the National Palace of Culture, is mainly based on deepening membership in the EU and NATO. To date, these two theses, in our opinion, are damaging the Bulgarian economy. We see what is happening after entering the eurozone. And with regard to our membership in NATO and the presence of foreign bases in the country – this, in our opinion, reduces the possibility of being a place of security and involves us in the risk of military conflict”, said Ganev.
“We are all feeling what is happening in the eurozone. With regard to military bases – Bulgaria officially received a diplomatic note from Iran, in which it was warned that it could be the subject of an attack because of the American planes taking off from the country,” explained Ganev.
So on these two issues, “Vazrazhdane” and ”Progressive Bulgaria” had no common ground.
”It is his right to have these policies and to propose them. Hopefully, the voters who vote for him do so not because of his personal charm, but because of the policies he wants to implement,” commented Ganev. And he recalled that after the vote on Sunday, if Radev is indeed the first political force, he must immediately decide who he will invite to talks.
”If he invites ”Vazrazhdane”, we will have a conversation based on policies and will support a government only if the priorities are in the interest of Bulgarian society – in terms of the economy and national security. If he, as the leader of his party, agrees to implement these policies, we will provide support. We do not want either positions or participation in the executive branch if these policies are not implemented”, said Ganev.
„As of January 1, something that used to cost 5 leva is now 5 euros. We used to take it for granted that we would go and fill up on fuel, but now there is a real danger that this will not happen. Our refinery already works with different types of oil, since we refuse to accept Russian. In order to work, it uses six types of oil, according to Spetsov. This puts us at risk of not having oil supplies, respectively not having fuel”, believes Ganev.
He pointed out that there is currently a problem with both prices and fuels. Ganev also does not believe that confidence in the euro has increased, as the European institutions say.
“Let each of them go out into the street and ask people – are they satisfied with their lives, are they satisfied with their economic situation, are they satisfied with the fact that one week they buy certain goods for one amount, and the next they cannot buy them for the same amount. So we are in a very difficult economic situation. The state is facing bankruptcy”, believes Ganev.
According to him, we entered the eurozone with false data on inflation and deficit.
“No, there is no trust in the eurozone because we have become permanently impoverished since January 1. In addition, we are also facing an energy crisis. The situation is not rosy”, said Ganev.
He believes that there is a need for urgent measures, based on national interest, and not only on commitments made to Brussels and sanctions policies. “Which is more important – "to comply with the sanctions or lift the sanctions to guarantee gas and oil supplies," Ganev said.