"The professional leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been depersonalized. It sits somewhere below the minister and in recent years, especially since we have also appointed police officers as ministers, we actually have some politicians at the top running the police. The police is not just an independent body subject to some form of political control, but on the contrary – is directly managed by politicians".
This was stated by former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Filip Gunev to the BNR in a comment on the ongoing actions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against vote buying. According to data from the Ministry of Power, more than 70 people have been detained for violations of electoral legislation, and more than 150 specialized operations have been carried out.
In his words, the measure is active, but it is not very effective. According to him, this is probably the best that the Ministry of Internal Affairs can do in a situation where it is very politicized in the way it operates:
"No police chief at any level will allow himself to investigate a politician without being either personally ordered or permitted by the minister who is a politician. Accordingly, a politician should allow the politicians who are actually engaged in vote trading to be investigated, because they are ultimately the buyers. That's nothappening. It has never happened before because this politician is beholden to his own political party, to his political supporters who put him there and the police know it. Structurally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is made so that politicians from above can fire anyone down, can order an investigation if someone dares to investigate or doesn't investigate who they should.
This is how the system was made and such powers were given to the minister so that he could exercise direct political control at all levels of the police, Philip Gunev continued his comment. According to him, a reform is needed to guarantee the independence of the police, and that the minister does not have the authority to interfere politically at any level – to fire, appoint heads of regional offices, regional directorates, etc. According to him, at the moment, those who appoint the minister expect him to do exactly that. "This puts the minister himself, whoever he is, in a position to be accountable to his political masters for what goes on down in the police force – why is "our man" being investigated? or why this one is not being investigated", he pointed out.
In the show "Above all" the expert emphasized that this also leads to self-censorship in the ministry:
"They know that if they are not ordered from above, there are risks for them because they have no political independence and they can be fired.
"The result of this is that warning protocols are written not to the politicians who actually buy the votes, but to the dealers at the low levels,", he noted. According to him, however, we will understand this low efficiency after the elections, when no one will be interested in the topic anymore.
Gunev emphasized that for vote buying, places are being sought where the vote can be bought for the lowest possible price. When voter turnout is low, these bought votes become much more important, he reminded.
The expert expressed the opinion that full Schengen membership should be the first priority for the future government. However, according to him, the chances are not great, given the many ambiguities in Bulgaria, Austria, and the EC.
"Still, an attempt must be made. If not, then certainly the middle of next year may already seem an idea more realistic.