Sofia has fallen into a blockade. The capital of an EU member state in the 21st century. Whether the demands, which are somewhat legitimate, won, we can reason through the different biases. This was stated by the political communications teacher Prof. Rosen Stoyanov in the program “Panorama” on BNT.
It is still too early to talk about victory, but the protest has renewed some serious political divisions. This was seen from the protest in support of Mayor Terziev. Currently, we have a birth of support for the mayor, whether he will take advantage of this depends on him, commented journalist Vesselin Stoynev.
An authentic class clash has unfolded before our eyes. On one side, we have working people, against an administration headed by a millionaire mayor. At the peak of the blockade, Terziev behaved like Margaret Thatcher in trousers, he said he would not talk to them if they did not fulfill his demands, commented Alexander Simov from the Bulgarian Socialist Party. He stated that he was convinced that the mayor did not gain a single additional vote from this clash.
In his words, this is an authentic class clash that shows what the problems of Sofia are. Since the beginning of the Transition, Sofia has always been governed by right-wing mayors. According to Simov, this wound is festering more and more.
We are building capitalism and we must understand that such clashes are inevitable, he emphasized.
According to Vesselin Stoynev, the clash was not class. “There was no negativity towards the leaders, on the contrary - there is complete sympathy. The point is that it needs to be managed more systematically and more normally”.
„It has been known for at least a year and a half that there is a problem there, but the mayor did nothing. A mayor's job is to seek a majority. There will be more and more such clashes, this is inevitable”, Simov predicted.
Prof. Rosen Stoyanov reiterated that Sofia has been only right-wing after the changes, and most likely it will remain so. „Here, the job of the heads of the transport companies was to present an action plan to improve the situation even before the blockade”.
Currently, the political system in Bulgaria is in disarray. The fight for the euro is very important, but the time for the referendum has passed. Currently, the situation is such that the decision no longer depends on us, said Alexander Simov.
Of course, people need to be asked. However, President Radev opposes direct democracy to representative democracy, saying that it should be a brake on the other. People should be asked, but not manipulated. President Radev knows very well that a referendum does not lead to legal consequences and cannot change an international commitment, explained Veselin Stoynev.
Prof. Stoyanov stated that this is a move that falls within the action of the administrator, but not of the statesman. “We are 110% ready to enter the eurozone. It is another matter that we observe who prevails in a political battle”.
Stoynev is convinced that early elections are not on the cards. "With his action, Radev lost the authentic leftists. People want to be asked".