If on October 27 people go for mushrooms again, vote brokers will do their job very well. This is what he said to "Focus" the political scientist Assoc. Petar Cholakov.
"The current campaign is unlike anything we have seen in previous elections. Perhaps the most interesting thing, the intrigue, is that this time we have two DPS. I see a thesis being defended by some colleagues – political scientists and sociologists that there is no campaign, I would argue. I would say that there is actually a campaign," he commented, referring to a study by the Institute for the Development of the Public Environment published in the media.
"From this analysis it is understood that "There is such a people" spent BGN 268,000 on media coverage. They are in the first place, and this is interesting, because they are far from the first political force, at least according to the forecasts of sociological agencies. According to data from the same study, in second place is "DPS-New beginning" of Delyan Peevski with nearly BGN 144,000 spent on media appearances. It is curious that in previous elections only DPS, that is before it split, spent much less money. From here it is clear that there is a campaign", explained Assoc. Cholakov.
"As for the messages, I don't see anything sensational or particularly different. And this time we see a cocktail of not very deep ideas that are offered to us by the political parties", the political scientist added.
Assoc. Petar Cholakov does not expect high public interest in the next early parliamentary elections: "From what the data from the studies of colleagues from sociological agencies show us at the moment, we can hardly expect a higher voter turnout on October 27. Last time, in June, activity was at a record low. I hope I am not a bad prophet, but it is possible that this time it will be even lower. There is nothing that obviously appeals to voters to such an extent that this negative trend will change this time. At least for the moment it is not visible and it will be a big surprise if such a thing appears by the end of the campaign.
However, the political scientist made a connection in another direction, asking: "Why is so much money being spent? Because when activity is low, the price of each vote jumps. The fewer people go to vote, the more profitable the role of vote brokers, those who try to buy and sell votes, becomes. So people will be doing themselves a huge disservice if they don't go to the polls. If they once again go for mushrooms, the vote brokers will do their job very well, spending money that will later be returned to them many times over.
According to Associate Professor Cholakov, the division in the DPS will lead to destabilization of the party system in our country: "The drama in the DPS will definitely complicate the calculations in the attempts to create a regular government. If we look back a little, the last regular government of Acad Nikolay Denkov was practically supported not only by GERB-SDS, but also by Delyan Peevski and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Now, if the predictive sociological studies are to be believed, there will be two DPS parties in the next parliament. With such an even more fragmented 51st parliament, the calculations for forming a regular government will become even more difficult.
According to him, PP-DB and GERB-SDS leave open loopholes for a new assembly. "If there is a chance for a regular government, a figure who does not cause negative feelings in the voters will be sought for prime minister. However, this is rather in the background. The leading are the bills, rather grocer's and rough, which, unfortunately, we will see this time as well", commented Assoc. Cholakov.
The political scientist predicts that probably this National Assembly Parliament will not be able to produce a regular government. The reason – the even more fragmented 51st Parliament: "My prediction is rather pessimistic. And even if some kind of government is put together, it will have a rather short life", he thinks.
"We cannot skip the 51st Parliament, we will have to live through it and even if we are disgusted, we must go and vote because otherwise the vote traders win. From then on, let's hope that the statesmen and women will come up with something more meaningful, but based on the facts, it will be rather difficult to form a regular government", summed up Associate Professor Petar Cholakov.
Source: www.focus-news.net