Expertise and popularity will be leading in the formation of the BSP-United Left lists. This was stated in a special interview for SafeNews by Dr. Kaloyan Pargov, chairman of the Strategic Institute for National Policies and Ideas and member of the National Council of the BSP. „I see that people from different regions of the country have raised my candidacy. I accept this as an assessment of my long-term party and public work, and I would accept with honor as long as the BSP National Council decides that my knowledge, skills and capacity can be useful to contribute to the success of these elections, Pargov said.< /p>
SN: Mr. Pargov, with what ideas and policies will you overcome the result of 7.06 percent in the last elections for the 50th Parliament?
Good question. You start from the back forward, with the recipe for how to show growth in this election as opposed to the previous ones. There are three things that are important. One of them is the content and idea. First, the BSP entered a niche in recent years, under the leadership of Cornelia Ninova, who is purely nationalist. This line is not appropriate and rather it is not characteristic of the BSP, although the times of radicalization require taking pole opinions. The time is like that, but in this case, nothing has conclusively proven that it works in the world – neither for nor against the green deal. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The topic of gender ideology was exhausted with the decision of the Constitutional Court, but the BSP did not disarm it, as if it had nothing to raise. The topic of social benefits is a primitive topic for the BSP, but it should be remembered that this type of policy is also carried out by right-wing parties, including Hitler, who had a very strong social program. That is, some primitive things for the left must be brought back to the center of the conversation.
SN: What do you mean?
These are topics related to the idea of the redistribution of the wealth of the state, where the left started more than 100 years ago. The idea of income redistribution, the idea of the availability of various goods by all citizens to overcome inequalities. This rhetoric would be more suited to an authentic left coalition, which we claim to be. Is it acceptable in the 21st century for over 200 places to be without water or have no access to water? Water will become an increasingly valuable resource and the prediction is that wars will be fought over it.
SN: Does the BSP-United Left think in this direction?
There is quite a bit of expertise in the left space, as there are quite a few experts who participated in the construction of hydro-engineering objects in the last 60-70 years of the last century.
SN: The BSP over the years had an idea for the introduction of a wealth tax, for the state to redistribute a larger share of GDP, the idea of the tax-free minimum. Are these ideas on the agenda?
The coalition is formed on the fly. Surely these ideas will be discussed. Changing the tax-insurance system requires a more peaceful time and the presence of a government. A calm conversation is needed in the state, among all groups, communities, experts, unions on this topic. The question is what to do with this money and where to direct it? More education, more health care, changing the health care model?….. With ideas like this that health is not a commodity and hospitals should not be commercial enterprises….. The next question is what should hospitals be if they are not commercial companies, what should they become? The truth is, the problem is deeper. The expert groups of the coalition work on these issues to form a program that is created on the fly because the time demands it. With this program, we will show a different face of the United Left, defending the ideas of all participants in this coalition. Maya Manolova, for example, will be the most active in the protection of citizens' rights.
SN: To bring you back to political topics. Talks about the coalition lists are coming. What will you bet on – of young, new faces and experienced people? And do you personally have the ambition to become an MP?
This is the second element of this construction – influence and ideas must be communicated by individuals. People from a campaign are people from lists. First of all, these are the sheet leaders who are the driving force behind each sheet. There must be a combination of expertise and regional weight here. That is, you have some recognition in the respective region and you have some expertise in a certain area. From there, the age element – young or old, should not be leading for these persons. Popularity and expertise should come first. As for me – I have many times had the opportunity to be the leader of the list as the chairman of the city council of the BSP, I have refused in the name of the party. I see that people from different regions of the country have raised my candidacy. I accept this as an assessment of my long years of party and public work and I would accept with honor as long as the National Council of the BSP decides that my knowledge and skills, capacity can be useful to contribute to the success of the BSP-United Left in this election.
SN: How will you comment on Cornelia Ninova's statement that Boyko Borisov managed to attach the scalp of the BSP to his belt and that a new assembly is being prepared with the participation of the BSP?
Mr. Borisov is already campaigning. And Kornelia Ninova, who lost the intra-party battle, knowing her style, will not stop with such theses. Here the question is: Why is all this happening? The answer is – to prevent the rise of this left coalition. The truth is that there is a congressional decision that does not allow a coalition with the GERB party. Only the BSP Congress can decide whether such a thing would happen. At this stage, there is no reason to claim that the BSP is preparing for some kind of assembly or, as we have popularly started to disparage attempts to form a government. This is categorically a speculation on the part of Mr. Borisov, skilfully used by Mrs. Ninova. Let me remind you that last year there were negotiations to form a government and there were rumors that three or four ministerial posts were proposed to be distributed among Ninova's cronies. Thank God, something happened and the leadership at the time taught him that this was not necessary. The current leadership of the BSP has no intention of entering into this type of relationship, as far as I can see, and on the threshold of another early election.
SN: I can't help but ask you about GERB's idea of introducing a proportional-majority system…
This idea was partially introduced by BSP in 2009. Then the majority leaders GERB and DPS stole the majority vote. BSP lost on this idea then. It was introduced just before the elections. Then a famous professor like Andrey Pantev, who was the majority leader in Veliko Tarnovo, lost to the unknown bodybuilder Tsvetan Tsvetanov. A famous professor – Radoslav Gaidarski, who saved thousands of lives, majority leader of BSP in Vidin, lost to a hairdresser from GERB. I say this to cast doubt on the recipe that Borisov launched.
Let us take the Greek pattern of arrangement of leaves
Instead, if Borissov really wants to have a majoritarian element, as I see him on a Greek wave in the last few months, let's go with the Greek model of arranging party lists. Where all the candidates are arranged in alphabetical order and not according to the claims of one or another leader. And so let's give people the opportunity to vote by majority only for individuals.
SN: Entirely Majoritarian System….
This is the Greek model. We give people the opportunity to choose which one they would prefer and the list is sorted by preferences. There are many people who have no party affiliation – we are talking about exactly these people. They want to see people with weight, with capacity, with experience, public figures. Professional politicians will suffer from this, as they are suffering in Greece. But here is a counterproposal to that of Mr. Borisov.
SN: Has this idea been discussed in the coalition or is this your personal opinion?
It was not discussed in the coalition. I do not know whether Borisov himself discussed the idea of a proportional-majority system in GERB. But he has the right as sole leader to say so. I present this idea on my own behalf. I will propose it in the coalition as well, if it comes to such a discussion.