The chairman of "Vazrazhdane" Kostadin Kostadinov defined the debate between presidential candidates Iliyana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov as a "friendly meeting between the left and right wings of the Euro-Atlantic status quo". The televised clash took place on October 29 on BNT and was the only one between the two candidates before the run-off on November 1.
In a position published on Facebook, Kostadinov stated that Gyurov was "weak, unconvincing, unprepared and insecure". According to the leader of "Vazrazhdane" the candidate of “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria“ repeated previously learned phrases and clichés with a stutter.
Kostadinov assessed Yotova's performance as more convincing, but made the reservation that she won the debate mainly because of her opponent's weak performance. At the same time, he described her as talkative, clichéd and stiff. BNT pointed out that the conversation covered the powers of the presidential institution, foreign policy, security, the budget and income.
“The debate was definitely won by the PB candidate, but not because she was better, but because the PP-DB candidate was outrageously weak“, wrote Kostadinov.
He also stated that the result of the debate would not change the behavior of Gyurov's voters. Kostadinov indicated that in his opinion the two candidates represent 6.2% and 6.1% of all voters in Bulgaria, respectively. These numbers are part of his political assessment and are not presented in the publication as an official election indicator.
The leader of “Vazrazhdane“ added that if he had had the opportunity to participate in a debate with Yotova and Gyurov, “much more would have been seen“ than what was seen on BNT. He linked the low turnout to the citizens' unwillingness to be represented by the candidates and estimated that 87.7% of Bulgarians chose to remain uninvolved.
Iliyana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov reached the second round after the first vote on October 25. According to data cited by BNT, Yotova received 34.8% of the votes, and Gyurov - 32%. The decisive vote is scheduled for November 1.
Sources: trud.bg, bntnews.bg