„The party structures were not asked about this widely proclaimed unification. Because, in places, socialists do not want to work with some of the parties of this so-called “Left Unification”. They don't want to work for people who only want leadership positions, a place in parliament, in committees, etc. For people who worked against the BSP and tore flesh from the party in several consecutive elections in recent years”.
This was stated to SafeNews by the People's Representative from the BSP for Bulgaria. and member of the National Council of the Socialist Party Ivan Chenchev.
He recalled that the previous leadership, led by Ninova, made a union with about 26 parties, including the ABV party. “The only ones with whom an agreement was not reached at that time were Maya Manolova and Tatiana Doncheva. Because they set impossible conditions. Let's remember that Doncheva's condition was the name “Movement 21“ to latch on to that of the BSP. And Manolova has also asked for more leadership positions”, the socialist pointed out and emphasized:
„This merger has already happened and it is a mechanical sum that is unlikely to produce the desired results. Especially since there are no new policies. I don't know what teams work as they say, but I know that in the parliament, everyone who was with Ninova and then betrayed her - signed the bills that Ninova proposed, Chenchev said.
According to him, there will be no new faces in the lists and especially among the drivers. “There will be one or two exceptions, enough to blind people's eyes. They will line up in the sheets and for them that is the most important thing. For me and many of the BSP members, the party is important. For this reason, we signal where the problems are, so that the party does not suffer from these actions,”, the socialist emphasized, and in response to a question from SafeNews, he responded:
„They are unifiers, aren't they?! “The Unifiers“ now they punish, separate, exclude. “The Unifiers“ remove Ninova, behind which thousands of socialists stand. Zafirov and his company are retired people. They hid this resignation from that National Council, which elected him acting. Apart from everything else, we have to talk about morality, honor and dignity here. Especially when they were between people who were a team at least until recently and worked together. Now they will propose to exclude us, simply because they are stupid and cannot look us in the eye,“ said Ivan Chenchev.
In his words, the frantic desire for revanchism can certainly be seen from all over Bulgaria. “These people have some glaring need for imaginary revenge. Perhaps they have been plotting this for a long time behind Nineveh's back. If they were truly unifiers, they would have taken a different approach. Blinded by their own careerism, they went in a different direction. This is not good for BSP. I don't care about their fate at all. I am interested in the fate of the BSP“, Chenchev was categorical.
On who represents the BSP: “Bulgaria is a country governed by the rule of law and still has a court. Before all institutions in the state, Ninova is the president. These people did not initially go according to the Statute and the rules of the BSP. That's why they are worried. Whatever he wants to do so new manual, it's actually old, there's no way around the laws. If they are circumventing the Party's Statute, then the laws in the country should not and cannot be circumvented," commented the socialist, a member of the National Council. And he added about the last meeting:
„Georgi Svilenski and I were there, we saw what was happening at the registration. They were 50 minutes late, started without a quorum, hid the lists, uploaded them to the registry and refused to provide them to us. What is this? Is this how a party is run?! Therefore, the socialists and the members of the party must take matters into their own hands and prevent this catastrophe, he was categorical.
On the right of Kornelia Ninova to be a deputy again, Chenchev repeated the presenter's question: “It is not according to the plenum, because I do not know that such a thing was discussed at the plenum. And it is according to Atanas Zafirov. He certainly feels uncomfortable when Nina is around. Gutsanov – too. Vigenin – too. And they can't help but be embarrassed as she pointed them out, developed their careers and made them her deputies. Zafirov's desire to remove Ninova, who is in his way and is the real leader, apparently makes him say such things. It is clearly stated in the Statute that the time for which the chairman is such, his parliamentary time is not counted,”, pointed out Ivan Chenchev.
In the conversation about the BSP: “If the interim leadership claims that the structures are in a loose state, the first resignation after the elections should have been that of Borislav Gutsanov. And also to International Secretary Vigenin, who criticizes now that we should have had good relations with PES. Didn't he lead international politics?! And Zafirov with the coalition policy? Now is he not criticizing himself after saying that he was supposedly doing a big left unification, when in fact he was the secretary and vice-chairman of the coalition politics party. This is nonsense and complete absurdity. You can't change clothes and suddenly say you're a new person. It cannot be done because people know, remember and see. That's why, in my opinion, these people have lost the trust of many socialists”, said Ivan Chenchev.
„We are tasked with setting out on a path that will save the party, of course, and protect the wishes and ideas of these pure, ordinary socialists. Because they didn't betray anyone, and they didn't stop betraying them all these years. Many of them say that what happened is unforgivable. And they do not accept such an option”, the socialist was categorical.
„There is a reporting-election campaign, there are meetings of main party organizations and everything that is according to the Statute. Every socialist can have his say there. I'm sure that will happen. Because, the party – these are all socialists. Traitors are a handful of people. In the end, it will turn out that all these socialists will not allow a handful of people, who allowed themselves to trade and betray the party, to dispose of their destinies and the direction in which Bulgaria should go, concluded the people's representative and member of National Council of BSP Ivan Chenchev.