The expectations of the left voters were that an entity would appear to unite them . Instead, the leaders of the so-called the left set about collecting older and newer pieces of the BSP. This was not the expectation of left-wing voters.
This is what the sociologist Yury Aslanov told FOCUS.
He noted that already at the beginning of the 1990s, the left practically identified with a single party – with BSP. "For this reason, throughout this 30-year period, all crises in the BSP turned into a crisis of the left in general. The crisis in the BSP is very deep, symptoms of this have been present for a long time, and now it has reached its peak. Naturally, this was transferred to the entire left, as is the tradition of the past years”, the sociologist explained.
In his words, what is happening in the left union is demotivating for the members of the BSP, which remains the core of the left. "The ordinary members of the BSP see once again that in order to get recognition from their own party they must first betray it, leave it, oppose it, and when they return as a coalition partner that has separated from it, they will get everything. By collecting several parts of the so-called nothing is expected to happen – it can't be done”, comments Yuriy Aslanov.
According to him, the conflict surrounding the arrangement of the leaves in the left was expected. However, this is very demotivating, especially for BSP members, who at that moment felt humiliated, he added. "Everything got bogged down in some petty nagging and bickering about issues that deeply do not interest left-wing voters. There is not a single argument, not a single debate on a substantive issue. Not a word was heard about what this coalition will offer the people as a left-wing alternative for Bulgaria. There is no way this coalition will win the sympathy of left-wing Bulgaria, and most likely a part of the left-wing voters will disperse, but the majority will stay at home and not vote," Aslanov predicted.
The sociologist believes that the BSP had a greater chance of winning more votes in the upcoming vote if it had appeared independently instead of in a coalition.
Because of the intrigues between the warring factions in some of the parties, the sociologist expects a slightly increased voter turnout compared to the previous elections. "This can raise activity, but on the left this cannot happen,”, he added.
In his words, Vanya Grigorova will not be the only one to claim the legacy of the BSP. "There will surely be others. The problem is that Vanya Grigorova missed the moment when she could have made such a claim, when she appeared in the mayoral elections and was at the top of public opinion. After that, however, actions followed in the Metropolitan City Council, some of which with her participation, which somehow compromised her image. If it had done so, perhaps by now we would have observed a parallel new strong political entity on the left. There is no way it will happen now, because everyone will try to break off a piece of the BSP”, commented Aslanov.