Serious political and media pressure awaits the new government from its very first days. This was commented on “The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov“ by Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov in his first television interview after taking office.
He commented on the cabinet's priorities, the opposition's criticism, the state of the budget, prices and relations with the PP-DB.
Hristov explained that he accepted the new post “with tension“, and not as an occasion for congratulations. According to him, his portfolio includes education, culture, tourism and sports.
“What in more progressive countries is called the concept of human development. That is, all these parameters that determine the well-being and evolution of people in a society“, explained Hristov.
He rejected the criticisms of “Democratic Bulgaria“ that there is a “European“ and “Eurosceptic“ deputy prime minister wing in the government.
“I can do nothing to help the right wing overcome its traumas from the defeat on April 19. Some parties are looking to find a justification for their existence after the people showed them that they had abandoned them. And they cling to their outdated obsessions. They cannot live without this image of the enemy from 36 years ago, which is difficult to explain even to the younger generations.“
The Deputy Prime Minister denied that there was tension between him and the other Deputy Prime Minister, Asen Pekanov.
Ivo Hristov explained that the cabinet received 124 votes instead of the expected 131, because the ministers, who are also MPs, deliberately did not register during the vote so as not to vote for themselves, which, in his words, was an “ethically sound“ strategy.
Regarding the criticism of the cabinet and the expectations for “100 days of tolerance“, Hristov said that he did not expect any relief for the new government.
“There have never been any gifts for us, even before we created “Progressive Bulgaria“. And to enter the government. I expect resistance at all levels – at the media level, at the deep state level, at the political forces level“, he said.
He also defended the cabinet appointments, including the criticism of the Minister of Education, Prof. Valchev.
“The Rector of Sofia University is a sufficiently authoritative position to head education. It is difficult to find a more authoritative figure in the hierarchy of Bulgarian education. I believe that Prof. Valchev will cope“, said Hristov.
He also commented on the political accusations on the topic of the requested parliamentary commissions to investigate Delyan Peevski and Ivo Prokopiev.
„They simply want to occupy the podium, to reanimate their image so that they can cut reels and upload them to Facebook, in which they utter various PR phrases about how wrong Peevski is, with whom they were in coalition until yesterday“, commented the Deputy Prime Minister.