Kiril Petkov's resignation as co-chair of "We Continue the Change" is the result of a serious breakthrough in the party, related to ongoing corruption investigations surrounding the Sofia Municipality. This was stated by political scientist Prof. Ognyan Minchev on the air of "The Day Live" on Nova News.
„I cannot tell you how he himself interprets his resignation – whether as guilt or as responsibility“, said Prof. Minchev. “But in my opinion the reason is obvious – a major breakthrough has been made within the party. An investigation has implicated a significant number of people in illegal actions related to the Sofia Municipality, but perhaps not only there“.
The political scientist defined Petkov's move as an attempt to limit the political damage: “This is perhaps an attempt to plug the loophole in front of this process of revelations. There is no doubt that this is not happening by chance. This is an operational measure that aims to reveal the infrastructure of such relationships within the party as a whole”.“
On the silence of the other leaders
Regarding the silence of the other key figures in the PP – Asen Vassilev, Lena Borislavova and Nikolay Denkov – Prof. Minchev was laconic: “At this stage, the plan is clearly this – Petkov's resignation will be sufficient compensation in response to these revelations. But whether this will happen exactly like this and whether the other leaders will remain at the helm – this cannot be said with certainty to date“.
He added that the development of the processes in the coming days and weeks will be decisive: “We see that another series of activists are leaving the party, which means that this process of revelations is not over“.
Internal party chaos and personnel crisis
Prof. Minchev also pointed out the deeper reasons for the crisis in the PP: “When you set anti-corruption policy as the motto of your party, you have to be very strict about the way the party behaves in public institutions. When you have focused your attention on corruption, the boomerang is especially strong if corruption is discovered on your territory. The PP never created its own personnel base or a stable organizational structure. It functions as a network, which creates internal chaos or at least semi-chaos“, commented Prof. Minchev.
Radicalism without resources
Another important factor, according to Prof. Minchev, is the political radicalism of the party: “The PP declared itself as a radical force that wants all power immediately and will use it to cleanse the Bulgarian state of corruption and the mafia. But when a revolution fails, it must be transformed into evolution – into reasonable and consistent steps for change. This requires compromises, strategy and cooperation with other political forces – things that the PP refused to do“.
On Sunday, the PP will decide its future. And according to Prof. Minchev the party has no choice but to renew itself: “It is obvious that the PP needs to be reconsidered and reaffirmed. This necessarily involves restructuring and renewing the political message, including at the leadership and strategic level“.
When asked about the future of the PP-DB coalition, Minchev said: “At this stage, it seems to me that the coalition will survive. But given the possibility of early elections later this year, we cannot say for sure what its format will be in the future“.
On a possible coalition with Borisov in the presidential elections
Prof. Minchev was categorical that a pre-election coalition with GERB for the presidential elections is unlikely: “Rather, DB, together with PP or without PP, will nominate a candidate who will stand autonomously in the first round. Depending on the results, they could consider forms of cooperation with GERB or other political forces for a second round“.
In conclusion, Prof. Minchev also commented on Petkov's call for Boyko Borisov to also resign: “This is not something new. The PP and Petkov himself have repeatedly addressed Borisov with this proposal. In this context, this call was used as an attempt to further ennoble Petkov's resignation itself. Here - I'm taking a step back, you take responsibility too“.