A political season without imagination, a ruling majority that no longer has convenient excuses, and an opposition that is still looking for its direction. This is how political scientist Assoc. Prof. Hristo Panchugov assesses the requests of the parliamentary forces upon the return of the deputies after the summer vacation.
According to him, the declarations from the parliamentary rostrum have not brought anything new and have rather confirmed the familiar political positions.
„Imagination is lacking. "We hear what politicians are somehow expected to say," Panchugov told the Bulgarian National Radio.
According to him, in recent months Bulgaria has witnessed a full majority that fails to cope with a large part of the stated tasks, and an opposition that cannot find a clear direction and goals.
According to Panchugov, the new political season will be marked by several key events. The first is the adoption of the state budget.
This will be the moment when the ruling majority will have to show with concrete instruments what policy it intends to pursue. Until now, the political scientist believes, the ruling party could refer to the legacy of previous cabinets or the short time they have at their disposal.
“From now on, concrete instruments will be expected to demonstrate that there is some policy and that it is being pursued“, he pointed out.
The second serious test will be the election of a new Supreme Judicial Council.
Panchugov defines as problematic the reduction of the conversation about judicial reform to “who will enter“ the next composition of the council. According to him, this is not a reform, but a continuation of the political dispute over control over the judiciary.
“The conversation about the people has not produced a single meaningful reform in the judiciary at this point“, said the political scientist.
He also criticized the management program, which, in his words, represents a series of clichés and wishes, without sufficiently clear mechanisms for their implementation.
As an example, he cited foreign policy, in which, according to him, tasks of a routine nature are set, while there is a lack of a sufficiently clear vision of what the ruling majority understands as the Bulgarian national interest.
The third major factor in the new political season will be the presidential elections. It is they, according to Panchugov, who can show not only the real state of the ruling party, but also the extent to which the opposition is capable of offering an alternative.
He sees in the declaration of Vazrazhdane, which brought us back to the statistics of socialism and spoke of economic ruin and the need for change, an attempt to redistribute voters who are looking for a sharper opposition to the political system.
According to him, Rumen Radev has managed to attract some of this type of voters who perceive him as a more authentic opponent of the status quo. This puts "Vazrazhdane" in front of the need to regain some of the lost support.
„The game of nostalgia for previous times, the game of radicalization, the return of this rhetoric is actually an attempt to tear off pieces of „Progressive Bulgaria“ to „Vazrazhdane“ through the presidential candidacy“, Panchugov believes.
GERB also faces a serious dilemma – whether to actively participate in the presidential race with its own candidate, or to seek another model of behavior.
Panchugov does not expect a unity on the right around a single candidacy. According to him, some of the opposition formations have already made their choices, which further complicates the possibility of a common candidate.
If GERB decides not to nominate its own candidate and calls on its voters to vote “according to conscience”, this may seem like an easy decision, but in fact it would be a sign of a lack of political vision, the political scientist believes.
The presidential vote is also important for the next local elections. It is the local government, in his words, that is the “long game” in Bulgarian politics.
Parties that succeed in local elections stay in politics, while the failure of the local vote often marks the beginning of their decline.
Panchugov also commented on the MRF's message about the need for everyone to walk together towards the common good.
In his words, the very concept of "togetherness" has long been part of the political language of the movement, but he sees no real content behind it.
"The MRF is a classic corporate formation that trades in hostage votes," Panchugov said.
The big question, according to him, is whether these votes are still so "hostage" and whether they can be used as a political resource in the upcoming elections.