Rumen Radev is doing very well as prime minister and does not need a third presidential term. This was stated by President Iliana Yotova on BNT in relation to the opposition's criticism that her possible victory in the presidential elections on October 25 would mean a third presidential term for Rumen Radev, quoted by "Focus".
Yotova added that if she becomes president, her relations with Radev "will be the same as they have been in the last 9 years - relations of mutual respect, an extremely good team, many common decisions, relations towards the return of laws to Bulgaria".
"But what I have seen since the beginning of this cabinet speaks more of a desire for cooperation, for the institutions to see together what the winning direction for the development of Bulgaria is from now on, the government enjoys very serious support. I see it through the people.
In her words, for many years there has been a gap between the institutions and the people.
"Radev and I will speak in one voice on topics that relate to the powers of the president, on topics that are in the interest of Bulgaria.".
The election campaign for the presidential elections
When asked what the metaphor of the political campaign has been so far, the head of state replied:
"I will conduct the presidential election campaign as I and my team have decided - positive, it will be a conversation with the people on the most important problems of the country. That is why I am constantly among them. Anyone can come, reach out to me, ask questions, and this is the most direct communication. And the fact that someone has decided to lead this dirty campaign is because it is very personal, very brutal. Perhaps in some people's eyes, it may seem overwhelming, let's leave this question to specialists, analysts, and fellow journalists to consider why this is so," she said on BNT and added:
"I can argue with arguments, I can argue with arguments, I can argue with facts, with examples, but I cannot argue with lies. I have never done it in my entire life and I have no intention of doing so".
The president said that she had a proposal for compromising material against her political rivals.
"I will just open the door a little and say that a part of the team that is coming up with this campaign came to me many months ago to offer me to do the same campaign for one of my opponents. At that time, he was still the acting prime minister - I refused. And why is this campaign being conducted so personally? There must be political arguments, there are also purely human and personal arguments. Maybe because I am a woman," she said.
Yotova also said that she did not appoint Georgi Kandev as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Until recently, the caretaker cabinet kept him as a temporary acting minister, precisely so that he would not have my signature. But I do not withdraw from the good words that I have said. Unlike my opponents, who one day say so because he is giving them a lecture, and then they start this campaign against me. That remains for their conscience." Yotova shared that when she appointed Andrey Gyurov as the caretaker prime minister, some of the politicians who have now nominated him as a presidential candidate are against him being the caretaker prime minister.
I will not talk more on this topic, I will not say anything. Do you know why? Because the feeling of statehood is extremely strong in me. I don't want the Bulgarian state to be exposed. I don't want foreign embassies to write abroad about the poverty in which we all felt as a society at some point. I don't want to make a campaign out of Mr. Gyurov's personal problems. And what I said and was offered to do - exactly such a campaign, I refused at the time", she added and recalled that when the campaign against him was being waged because he had a case in Luxembourg, she stood on his side.
The "Petrokhan" case
Yotova defined the "Petrokhan" case as one of the "most bleeding wounds of us as a society".
"I speak as a person and a president. Two children were shot. How did we allow this parallel world in our society? How did we allow these children not to go to school? How did these people reach out to these children? Is this our sleeping society? Is this a cover-up of the truth? This is where we need to go, to the end. We need to see if there are similar structures elsewhere. We need to drink this cup so that we can heal ourselves".
She was categorical that this pain must be experienced as a society, "so that we can emerge stronger".