The hypothesis that GERB will not have a presidential candidate is increasingly felt. I am not convinced how it will be interpreted by their voters, since there is some tension within the party whether to have or not to have a candidate. This was stated by sociologist from „Trend” Evelina Slavkova on the air of „Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov” on NOVA NEWS.
According to her, the opinion of the party leader Boyko Borisov is „they should rather not have their own candidate”. „Imagine GERB, which will not participate in elections, how will it enter the local elections without mobilizing its electorate. The refusal is a risk to the party,” she believes.
“The probability that their voters will recognize Iliyana Yotova is greater. The reason is that in their minds Andrey Gyurov is supported by parties that arrested Borisov a few years ago”, Slavkova specified.
The sociologist said that she would not engage with the opinion that the election result is predetermined at the moment. “So far it is obvious who will go to the runoff, because we still do not know who the other candidates will be. We must not forget that the presidential elections have a majoritarian character, but without the support of a political party it is difficult to win them”. According to her, we may have a winner in the first round if over 3.3 million people come out to vote on October 25, and the first has over 1.5 million votes.
„The presidential elections will be a benchmark for the first 100 days of the government of „Progressive Bulgaria”. We will see if there will be erosion on the part of their voters”, Slavkova also said.
According to Slavkova, Iliyana Yotova and Rumen Radev have different styles of behavior. „Yotova is betting on less confrontation, but this does not mean that she will be silent if she wins. As vice president, she took into account Radev's positions and opinions. They seemed like a couple between whom there was no tension. Some time ago, we had a similar case of confrontation with Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova. I am of the opinion that Yotova will try to have her own image as a president, and not to be like Rumen Radev”, she said.
“It is difficult to make the difference between President Radev and Prime Minister Radev. He will only step into the shoes of the prime minister. We saw him as a little more distant and hidden, but from the new political season we will see him more often in the country. He will change his image and upgrade it”, she commented.