The president is a repeat offender in making political projects. Krum Zarkov, presented as a new moral person, is another proxy that positions an oligarchic-economic circle in Bulgarian politics. Peevski has been spinning the same thing for 11 months, for cash in the presidency, bundles, sacks, safes, “woo-woo“. That's how Rumen Radev pumped. To take out and say! Otherwise, he is a participant in a theater that the two of them play with the president. Such theses were developed by Kaloyan Metodiev in front of bTV radio.
Mr. Metodiev, we heard these days that Boyko Borisov is proposing a quadruple coalition between GERB-SDS, PP-DB, ITN and BSP and that he himself be prime minister. We saw the disagreements of the other three formations for him to take the prime minister's post. Today, after a meeting of the Executive Committee of GERB, Borisov said that there are formulas to reach a government and he proposes that he be prime minister because, I quote: “This is the only way to have clearly expressed political responsibility in a governing body .“, and that he will not allow outside interference in the government. Why do you think Borisov wants to be prime minister, despite the disagreement of the other three formations with which he will negotiate?
Because he refuses to accept the realities in the country, which are that he is worn out, that he is not trusted, that this is the ceiling of his electoral possibilities, that he won these elections undisputedly, categorically, but that according to the general opinion in the country this election was rigged, bought, dishonest. So that the very claim to be first in such a context is already, to some extent, compromised as a political product.
And we see that for the seventh time in a row he cannot form a government, a sustainable government. A large part of the people doesn't want it, not just they don't want it, but they are radically against it as a political product of the last 15 years – a man who shaped the present day situation in the state to a great extent. So, in my opinion, this is the main problem in the country - the way for him to withdraw from politics, and we Bulgarians are hostages to this problem of his.
Because, he can't go out to drink coffee on the street, he can't walk among people, he can't go anywhere peacefully from now on. He must stand with guards, with state care. In the end, he is a hostage to the entire policy he was conducting and to this mutrization of Bulgarian politics, of which he was one of the main architects in the last 15 years – to the point of perversion.
Because compared to all other countries in the European Union – 27 in a row, we are currently a perverted formula of government, with state rackets, with theft of businesses, with falsification of elections, stealing of votes, pressure – everything that a European polity and state should not be. Still, he ruled this country most of the last 15 years, and he refuses to accept the realities and accept that this is his child – today's Bulgaria, to the greatest extent.
In recent years, however, GERB has not been in power. Let's look at his request to be prime minister. If he backs down on that demand, will that make possible the governing formula he's proposing – the quadruple coalition?
Nothing is certain. Because you see that he himself is a football player by etiquette. But in terms of content, she is a rhythmic gymnast. He changes his mind several times a day. He said yesterday that only he can be prime minister and fix the country (obviously he got over excited by the election of Trump). Today he said that he is ready for discounts.
At the same time, we have a raid on the media of prominent representatives of GERB. One says: “We will form a government with Boyko at the head.“, another says “We are ready for concessions.“. That is, in my opinion, this is a strategy to throw smoke, to pollute the public environment, so that the public cannot find out who is fighting for what, what exactly they want, and in the end what will be put together, and something behind the scenes is put together in my opinion , based on these negotiations that we saw today in the last hours. Of two large groups that came together in the political space.
GERB are initiating talks today, which will be led by Boyko Borisov himself, together with Tomislav Donchev, Rosen Zhelyazkov, Raya Nazaryan. What do you think it shows that Borisov will personally participate in the negotiations this time? (previously relied on an all-female negotiating team)
That he takes things under control, that this is important to him. And the other significant thing for today is that the first party out of the eight in the parliament to invite to negotiations is the BSP. Which, until the coup against Nineveh, he denounced as the main political opponent, as a party with which he would never sit down and have nothing to do (they have a decision at the National Conference). At one point, the party with which they have partnered the most in recent days is precisely the BSP, which he managed to privatize, through the proxy. Of course, here I do not exclude the role of Peevski, who has another lion's share of this coup and this privatization. But in general, this is the main stone around which the assembly of the government will revolve, and this fig leaf will be the BSP.
Do you expect the BSP to enter government? If it comes to forming a majority?
Openly or behind the scenes, I expect that they will provide some support, because yesterday, neither in leggings nor in a sleeve, the official cabinet (which we know who runs it), the finance minister met only and only with the BSP. The Finance Minister, will not just go without being sent to meet exactly with the BSP. At the same time, they refused a PP-DB meeting yesterday, on the issue of the sanitary cordon around Peevski. Although MECH, APS, ITN responded to it – all parties that have declared themselves in some way as opposition to the GERB and DPS model. So you see the BSP has undergone a cruel catharsis in recent days, and let's not forget that in Monday's floor vote their votes were split – 15 to 5, during the election of the speaker of the parliament, i.e. there it turned out that there are different owners of the parliamentary group.
Regarding yesterday's negotiations PP-DB talked with MECH, APS, ITN. Borisov said that if GERB comes to an agreement with BSP and ITN, then they will speak with PP-DB last, because they have very clearly laid down the red lines and stated what they would not support. And also, Borisov signed a letter, a document, that he will not work with Peevski's DPS and Dogan's APS, nor with Vazrazhdane and MECH. The PP-DB said that this is a good start, but they want the declaration of sanitary control around Peevski to be signed. How do you see all this?
In my opinion, Borisov is looking for a way to lure them into this assembly, coalition, behind-the-scenes management, which they have obviously already put together with the BSP. ETC I can't figure out where they play because they go everywhere. But the PP-DB must be the biggest fools in politics, if they agree to this move, to participate in such management, which is obviously behind the scenes, and which, already, will finish them completely. However, in these elections they also lost the deputies. That's why, I guess, they strongly insist on signing this declaration – Borisov will not sign it for them, BSP will not sign it for them. So ITNs were quite evasive yesterday. MECH also wanted to add Borisov - they don't want to add Borisov. If I am to be perfectly frank with your listeners – it's a pain, a hen. We are observing at the moment a totally degraded political elite, exhausted, a broken party system, which is currently negotiating with each other impurely on all possible lines with the idea of someone entering the government. And to go back here to the beginning – assuming these elections are bought, stolen and rigged, which is the general feeling. I am one of the signatories of the request to the Central Committee for the complete cancellation of these elections, because 50% of the sections, the majority, have violations. Thousands of sections have falsified protocols, the machines spewed incorrectly, the investigative protocols were falsified, scratched, transferred to parties. If we assume that there is also a bought vote – bought commissions, as it feels, do the math that this money now, through a similar, unprincipled government, under this falsely elected parliament, has to be killed somewhere. And I can tell you where they're going to kill themselves - everyone listening to us right now is going to bring them back! Through potholes, through counterfeit drugs, through business thefts – so that we move in a vicious circle. And until we push this party system and all the institutions that currently embody it – to somehow restart the system cleanly, where we have clear rules, clear institutions, clear responsibility, things will not work out, this agony will continue.
What does this system reboot go through though? And is there time for new political players? These days, yesterday we heard that Delyan Peevski told journalists that a new party is being created in the presidency and its leader, according to him, will be the former justice minister Krum Zarkov. In fact, there has been talk of such a presidential project for a long time, but is the preparation of such a party already underway, in your opinion?
The President is basically a repeat offender in making political projects, he already made an ITN during my time when I was in the Presidency. He actively participated, it is no coincidence that they wanted a presidential republic. Then he also did PP. I think that there is no one who doubts how he positioned them, financed them, supported them in the first months of their creation after the official cabinet. Now, I see that the circle of speakers around him (however loose) are once again hinting that now is the time. That if he misses the moment, it's over. But here, I would recommend the listeners, because Krum Zarkov is trying to position himself as a new, moral person, I would recommend watching the investigation of Maria Tsantsarova on bTV – auction for millions from last year, May, 2023. Where they can see Krum Zarkov in his pure form as the Minister of Justice and what kind of relationships he has with certain individuals, with certain businesses, with the fuel auction – the most vicious in the history of the Department of Justice, made by him through falsification of documents. So I recommend to see this investigation to see another proxy that tries to position an oligarchic-economic circle in Bulgarian politics. As for the president, just to remind that he once again betrayed everyone who somehow trusted him, because yes, he said that the election was fake, immediately after the election he said that there was a bought vote and that is unacceptable, but. . did three things: First, he convened this National Assembly as quickly as possible, on Monday – never convened on monday, always convened on wednesday, hurry up. Although we had prepared appeals to the Constitutional Court, we collected more signatures - 7-8 political entities and many deputies, we collected more than 58 signatures to appeal to the Constitutional Court. He didn't give us more time. Separately, he went and legitimized this National Assembly, together with his vice president, even though they said it was illegitimate. And in third place – did not file a complaint with the SC, but he could have done it! To show action. So what are you president for? Just going out, spitting, having someone else do your job, proxies from the presidency – whether it will be Krum Zarkov, whether it will be PP, whether it will be ITN, or various others such as Stefan Yanev. And to set the people on fire and hide in the key moments when the going gets tough. This, in my opinion, is also a major problem – he is part of the problem in the country, not of its solution, and he should go with this whole package with which he has wrapped himself, tied himself up in recent years.
There are enough international reports about him, I mean the OSCE, which said that he interfered in the elections, the “Botash” treaty, where, in my opinion, he became heavily dependent and therefore susceptible to certain influences, so that I see in him neither an alternative nor a person who can lead the country out of the current crisis and put us on the right European tracks.
I will add here that the President and the Vice-President yesterday attended the swearing-in of the deputies – however, they immediately left the Parliament building after the oath without waiting for the statements of the political forces. Regarding the appeals to the SC – The head of state said that it is important for him that the deputies appealed to the SC, and this is an indicator that the immune system of parliamentarism is functioning, and that he will support any effort in this direction (this as an addition to what you said). And here I would like to ask you again about the idea of a presidential project, what would be the potential of such a party if it were launched with another leader, not with President Radev (although it is clear that he will sit behind it)?
Very small. First, it's the fourth in a row already. And positioned it. Now money will be found, obviously there is. But here I want to point out that when Peevski made the statement that Krum Zarkov was preparing to be the face of the new political project, 5-6 minutes later the president entered the National Assembly, accompanied by Krum Zarkov. I can read protocol signs and I know when the president appears with whom – he goes with the chief of staff, or the second person in the presidency always, to official events. All the secretaries and advisers, as usual Krum Zarkov, entered half an hour earlier – 10-15 people. So the very entry and positioning to enter together was already a clear sign that something was brewing for Krum Zarkov as a political project.
But here Peevski has been doing the same thing since January, for 11 months, for cash in the presidency, bundles, sacks, safes, “woo-woo“. That's how Rumen Radev pumped. “I know, I know”, he says he knows – to take out and say! Otherwise, he is a toothless dog who is currently participating in a theater that he and the president are putting on. And let's not forget – during the DPS-New Beginning rally, one of the attendees said: “We bent the government in 2022”. Kiril Petkov's government was brought down together in a combination between Peevski and Rumen Radev, who called them “charlatans”, with all their resources – media and political, it is also in the OSCE report. As I said, 26 observers from 19 countries said that the president worked in those elections then, in support of GERB and DPS against the parties in the then coalition, headed by Kiril Petkov, Kornelia Ninova, DB then with Hristo Ivanov. And the government was brutally overthrown by this group. So, if they don't play another theater to pump each other up - something concrete has to be done. Otherwise, it becomes a very funny plot in front of the presidency with microphones, with dudyukani, but nothing more.