GERB-SDF did not reach an agreement with “Democratic Bulgaria“ on the personal composition of the future government and the name of the candidate for Prime Minister. GERB-SDF proposed Boyko Borisov and after rejection by the DB, they bet on Rosen Zhelyazkov. Another rejection by the DB followed, and GERB – SDS announced that they were terminating the negotiations. What's next… Political scientist Kaloyan Metodiev speaks to FACTI.
- Mr. Metodiev, GERB negotiated with “Democratic Bulgaria“, but the proposals for the name of the prime minister – Boyko Borisov and Rosen Zhelyazkov were not accepted by them and this failed the negotiations for a cabinet. What, in fact, did we observe at these meetings…
- Mostly unprincipledness. Those who were going to change Bulgaria and fight GERB hugged, begged, crawled, offered themselves to them. I wonder what strong word to use. I leave it to your readers, who are diverse, to each put a label on themselves. This whole sleazy gathering of political renegades in the negotiations would have given birth to a political Frankenstein of backstage and addictions. After we had fake elections of fraud, there was no way we could have principled negotiations for a government. On the other hand, I think that there is an invisible part of everything that happened. The first is the greed of the DB, BSP and ITN. The second is the strong addictions that many talk about - especially in the BSP and ITN. On the other hand, it is Borisov's nature to spoil, destroy, humiliate, and corrupt everything around him, including the state as a whole, in order to survive. The fourth is the context. Forming a cabinet in a difficult socio-economic situation, when we also have a broken budget, is a huge risk.
Borisov has proven that he is not a person who bears responsibility.
It is always someone else's fault. Fifth, there was a person who was constantly talked about, his role was analyzed, his influence on the process and especially on some of the participants, even though he was not at the table - Delyan Peevski.
- When will the elections be in 2025?
- If everything ends procedurally in the coming weeks, most likely in April. But I think the saga is not over.
In Bulgaria, we have seen enough of chalked red lines and false oaths.
Borisov is capable of backtracking. He likes the others to pray to him. Especially those from the negotiations - especially Gen. Atanasov and the caricatured leadership of the BSP, which was already seen in the roles of ministers of defense, transport, energy, etc. The seir - excuse me for using this old Turkish word, but it suits what is happening best, will begin after the third mandate is awarded. If Radev gives it to the BSP or ITN, we will see a miracle of verbal equilibristics. They will start convincing us that they are forming a government that, in fact, is not a government, but a form of free association of innocent experts who happen to pass by in the interest of the citizens, the Earth is flat, Elvis Presley is alive and other illusions in order to get hold of power. So until the last term returns, nothing is done.
- How did you see the role of the BSP and the ITN in these negotiations? Were they fighting for policies, or...
- It was great to watch them in the photos that were only released by the GERB press center. Their smug, fat faces. How can one not remember how Slavi Trifonov became the first political force with the promise that he would rip off GERB. After the saga with the election of the speaker of the parliament and everything that was said.
How much does Trifonov's word weigh? How much...
With the coup plotters from the BSP, it is more explainable. Borisov has been cultivating a business cohort in the party for years. And he has been calmly using them for half a year now. I remind you that they chose Kiselova together. After the coup against Korneliya Ninova, who remained the only rebellious and consistent alternative to the GERB model, the BSP is a conquered structure, without an immune system, without principles. They sold their fortress from the inside. Smugglers, bank robbers, vote buyers, oligarchs are their emblems. Borisov thus conquered and destroyed the UDF for the time being, but much more quickly and again through the clientele in the Sofia Municipality and several brokers in the national leadership. A very harmful model for Bulgaria. It eats parties and the future of the people.
The key is for Borisov to be defeated so that we have a stable, working and effective party system.
And above all, fair. To be a middle-European country both in behavior and in indicators. And here we come to your specific question - no, we didn't hear about any policies. They didn't say a word about the problems of society - about galloping prices, about the ERP, about electricity, about water, about bread, about healthcare, about education, about crime... And it even sounded like a joke when the BSP said at the beginning of the negotiations that they were ready to offer a prime minister, because Kiselova was not enough for them. That is, the whole process was about posts.
- Only the DB is negotiating with GERB for the cabinet. What is going on in the PP-DB coalition? What should we expect from the PP...
- The coalition exists de jure, but de facto it is a collapsed construct. They had separate candidates for the head of the National Assembly, they voted differently, some go to negotiate with GERB, they pursue different policies, they demonstrate different partnerships... I don't know by what criterion, except for the inscription on the parliament's website, to define them as a coalition. This hyphen between them is not even a horse hair.
DB lost a lot from the next lap in which they sat.
Their leadership turns out to be very lapdog, and there is full of decent and principled people there, including MPs. PP will try to use their distinction from this format to attract part of the disappointed liberal electorate, but the attack against them is very strong. This is literally a cannonade that can knock them down, but it can also help them raise their score. They are to blame. They have done a lot of stupid things in terms of partnerships in politics. The point is that if they don't think their voters are idiots, they should honestly tell them why they continue to claim that they are together.
- Only DPS-New Beginning wants us to go to the elections. What are the other parties afraid of...
- DPS-New Beginning say so, but they always have not one, but a hundred in mind - I mean what they say and what they do. This as a parenthesis. If the rest are afraid, it is probably from the fatigue and anger of the voters, from the ongoing crisis, from new political projects, and those who bought votes and commissions, from new expenses. We are in an Italian scenario from the end of the 20th century - a degraded party system, a judicial system taken over by the mafia, mafia structures, lodges, backstage groups, monstrous regional inequalities. The crisis is deepening and becoming unpredictable. This is a great opportunity for the state. The moment is coming. Society should do a small reboot by deleting unnecessary and harmful files to speed up the work of its computer. Viruses will resist, but politics is a struggle. We have a lot to catch up with other European countries.
- Will we soon have only one MRF, considering the conference in December, at which Delyan Peevski was appointed chairman?
- As much as there is one BZNS. Never again. MRF in the form of January 1990 ended last year. New parties, factions will still be created, we will see regroupings, a struggle for supremacy. Peevski is undoubtedly at the head of the most influential wing there at the moment, but his problems will only intensify. The rest will seek revenge.
Turkey has not yet publicly determined its new favorite in the battle for the MRF.
And its role as a regional power is strengthening after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and its transformation into a gas hub for Eastern and Central Europe on January 1.
- „Vazrazhdane“, MECH and the people around Dogan stood aside in the cabinet talks because...
- Because they were not invited. For months, Borisov has been explicitly listing the DB, BSP and ITN as now acceptable partners. He liked working with them, he negotiated with them, they responded to him with understanding, cooperation, reciprocity. „Vazrazhdane“ has been nurturing them for many years, but given the war, there is no way he can officially invite them to negotiations. For now! I emphasize the latter in bold. Anyone who wants can watch Borisov's press conference from April 5, 2023 and hear the praise for them and their common future. Or let Desislava Atanasova command them to change their vote in parliament for the people's medicines.
Radostin Vassilev did not cut corners. He is consistent against Borisov, so the latter explicitly mentioned him as a person with whom he will not negotiate.
DPS-Dogan were also not invited, but, in my opinion, in order to have a balance with DPS-Peevski. So that the latter do not get irritated. Let's not forget that the latter listed come from a joint government of the Tsar (2001-2005). They have a long and close relationship together.
- The prosecutor's office requested the immunities of many deputies. Why now?
- Why now is one question. The second question is why these ones. The society is increasingly convinced, and there is no longer a feeling that the prosecutor's office is used not to fight crime, but as a political bludgeon for the inconvenient. No matter how you look at it, it is for reorganization. According to the Albanian model with a vetting system. It is noticeable that immunities were not requested only by the parliamentary group of GERB and BSP, although there is the largest concentration of people with a dark past there since the 90s. Next week will be the election of the Prosecutor General. We remember how he was elected. Now it depends on them how the situation around the election will develop. There will still be a lot of tension around the process. Because of the distorted role of the prosecutor's office in Bulgaria. The very fact that the name of the Prosecutor General is more publicly circulated than that of pop stars and politicians is already an indicator of an institution that has outgrown its functions.
- Is there another country in the world that starts the year without a budget?
- I haven't heard. The lack of a budget is a clear sign of uncertainty, an inability for businesses to plan, if you will, even employees don't know what insurance they will pay, how municipalities will function... A record number of industry organizations spoke out against this budget, which has a virtual revenue part. And the deputies went on a long vacation. As if there is no problem. We heard Kiselova very arrogantly say - there is no drama. For her personally, there may be none. Irresponsible statement and behavior. She should have called them back on January 2. Her head spun very quickly. These are such failed parties in this parliament that they didn't even bother to adopt an extended budget to implement the 2024 one. On December 31, the caretaker cabinet submitted something like a decree, they call it a temporary law to regulate social payments. Policy is made through the budget. Priorities are set there, sectors are supported that will pull the others along, etc.
- Pensioners are worried about whether they will receive pensions. Is this normal… Does anyone in parliament think about the people…
- Hundreds of thousands celebrated the holidays without electricity or water. An entire winter resort started the ski season without electricity - because of fallen snow!? Since January 1, the prices of electricity, gas, water, gasoline, bread and everything else have gone up. Foreign investments and exports have collapsed. The economic situation is getting worse. There have been numerous protests in recent weeks. People are becoming rebellious! Pensioners are stressed out just by the avalanche of news and the lack of certainty about receiving their pensions. Especially those on a minimum pension, for whom every lev is vital. What amount will they be paid - from January or from December 2024? It seems there is regulatory chaos. In this parliament, most people think about survival, that they will have to give money again for elections, for public procurement, for portions. After you have paid for your parliamentary seat, you are not obligated to any voters. To you, they are plebs. This is the result of bought votes, bought committees, turned off cameras, falsified protocols, stolen elections... Throw the criminal contingent out of politics. Get angry. Do not submit to injustice and force. Otherwise, there is no fix.