I will dispel the speculation about the DPS. Dr. Ahmed Dogan and I are in daily communication. He is in great shape and follows the political processes in Bulgaria, Europe and the world. Dogan has a very clear idea of the kind of political crisis democracy in the country is currently in.
This was stated in an interview with the BNR by Valentin Tonchev, MP from the DPS and a member of the Bureau of the party and one of the signatories of the letter to the Honorary Chairman Ahmed Dogan.
„Let us be grateful that Dr. Dogan has this critical thinking and vision for the development of Bulgaria and can be useful to us at this critical moment. That's why we called on him to take a stand on what is happening, both in our party and in Bulgaria," admitted Tonchev, who for many years was in Ilhan Kyuchuk's team in Brussels.
Valentin Tonchev explained why he and his colleagues from the PG of the DPS did not support the cabinet “Rosen Zhelyazkov“ of GERD:
„With all due respect to Rosen Zhelyazkov, a wonderful candidate for prime minister of GERB, but we are MPs sent to the National Assembly not to press a button. We must have a debate about policies, what Bulgaria will do, what is the participation of the DPS.“
The deputy denied the speculations that there was a split in the DPS – “they are not true”, he declared.
„Dr Ahmed Dogan is the sole and irreplaceable leader of the DPS. Let's be clear, among our sympathizers, members, structures, there is no doubt that Dogan represents the timeless values and interests of DPS. My colleagues and I voted against "Zhelyazkov" because we followed Dogan's will, Valentin Tonchev frankly explained in the program "Horizont for you".
And explained that Art. 9a of the DPS Statute states that Dogan is the bearer of the permanent and strategic goals.
„What more strategic goal to participate in talks, should the political cabinet of GERB be supported. Dogan said that no one had discussed the policies of the "Zhelyazkov" cabinet with the DPS. It is good to have on a piece of paper the support of Ukraine, Schengen, etc., but who has held talks with the DPS, what policies will we follow to achieve these goals”, argues the vote in the National Assembly against the “Zhelyazkov“ cabinet. Tonchev.
He explained about the tension in the DPS:
There is tension in relation to the politics being conducted, in relation to sympathizers there is no tension. Two co-chairmen were elected and Dogan declared that this was how the party would be run. But in recent weeks, we have observed a single decision-making by “Who is the chairman of the PG of the DPS– Delyan Peevski?“. We do not want to split the party, but we must follow what we have voted for at the National Conference. Yesterday, Jeyhan Ibryamov, Aysel Rufat were expelled without clear arguments and debates - the DPS party has been on the political field in Bulgaria for 34 years.
„That is why we called on Dr. Dogan to step in and take the reins, because DPS has never been run in this way. And you will see that he will soon take an attitude. DPS is a strongly expressed liberal party and with respect for every person. And that's exactly what we're trying to share right now. There is no split in the DPS, all our sympathizers stand behind Dogan, as the only leader of the DPS. The dispute is how the PG is led at the moment,”, MP Valentin Tonchev is convinced.
For the second term, he recommended:
"The DPS should get the second term, because back in time the DPS is the party that was able to form coalition governments in complicated, political times – 2001 and 2005. Therefore, we should not cross out the second term. The situation seems complicated. I, above all, wish that the political parties would sit down and talk about specific policies. Whether we go to elections 6 or 10 times, if they don't sit down to talk about priorities, values, policies, Bulgaria will continue to be in the swamp, we are currently at the bottom of the development of democracy in the country. We are going to elections and what, we are changing the state system? Is this the most valuable thing that Bulgarian politicians can do? Let's not rush the second term and the president is understanding.