Author: Emi Baruch
Rumen Radev gave his first interview after leaving the presidential institution on BNT. Throughout the entire 43 minutes of airtime he received, Rumen Radev adhered to the moderate scale of a controlled register suitable for a person who wants to present himself as a prepared, unavoidable savior of the nation. The future party leader broke the intonation monotony of his streamlined deviations from the specifics only once - when he was asked whether he trusted Nikolay Koprinkov in addition to "who leads his people".
Rumen Radev answered the question with a question and asked with slight nervousness: "What is the problem? That a legend has spun around Koprinkov, and we know who started it. A master of the short story, which slipped out of his media and has been circulating without any evidence so far."
In the context of the upcoming election of an acting prime minister, this answer is not without significance.
Who is Nikolay Koprinkov?
Nikolay Koprinkov - Radev's long-time secretary for domestic policies, cited as the most influential figure in the presidential administration, through whom key appointments in the executive branch have passed and who is considered to be the main driving force of the presidential party, remained in Iliyana Yotova's team.
Yotova has to make a choice within the framework of previously agreed scenarios. Radev publicly stated that he has full confidence in her competence and that he neither participates in nor influences her decisions. Is that so, however? Is it logical that the person who is considered a key figure in the strategic planning of the current presidential team should both be on the team of the new owner of "Dondukov" 2, and be a silent figure in her entourage?
Rumen Radev stated that his goal, summarized in three words, is to fight against the oligarchy. We should assume by deduction that this is also the goal of his current deputy, Iliyana Yotova.
Will Peevski be isolated?
What does oligarchy mean to Radev is a topic related to the strategies of his future party. And if it is trying to slip towards Gen Z, the generation that "retires Delyan and Boyko", there is no way for the native oligarchic symbolism to escape these two images. One of the tightly knit tandem brings only negatives for Radev, while benefits can be derived from the other. Yesterday, on national air, Ivo Hristov, known as Radev's ideologue, not by chance said that in the ranks of GERB "there are reasonable people, a large number of qualified administrators, there are certainly honorable people - and they should not be thrown out of the account".
Will Peevski be thrown out of the account? This is a task for which it is worth making heavy compromises. But not because the Magnitsky-sanctioned oligarch spoke of the presidency as a "dark institution with a lot of cash", referring primarily to Nikolay Koprinkov, but because of Delyan Peevski's detrimental influence in the justice system and in almost all state structures.
Let's try to look at the five "ready-made" caretaker prime ministers, people who said they would not escape responsibility and that they were capable of leading a cabinet that would organize elections. Fair elections.
Sylvia Kadreva and her career rise in the KPKONPI
The career development of librarian Silvia Kadreva is connected with the KPKONPI, where she was proposed by Plamen Georgiev, who became famous both for his refusal to investigate the recording "Alo Vanyo!", in which Boyko Borisov is heard ordering the investigation of Misho Birata to be terminated, and for "Apartmentate" - the scandal with his undeclared luxury terrace, after which Georgiev was fired as consul in Valencia.
Kadreva's biography and the circumstances surrounding her elevation to the CPKONPI show how behind-the-scenes mechanisms work in the long term - appointments accumulate, are legitimized by parliament and subsequently become an argument for "expertise", regardless of the political context in which they arose.
Margarita Nikolova - from "Ataka" through BNT to the Court of Auditors
Margarita Nikolova's entry into public power occurred through "Ataka" - a party that not only participated in governing configurations, but also provided parliamentary support to the "Oresharski" cabinet, and later to the "United Patriots" coalition, GERB's partner in the third "Borisov" cabinet. This is not a peripheral political biography, but a consistent movement within ruling majorities, albeit through different labels.
The rest of her institutional career - in the Court of Accounts, in several ministries and at the Bulgarian National Television - shows the classic path of cadres who "depoliticize" through the administration, without actually severing their connection with political power.
And this is the essence of the choice: Nikolova and Kadreva are products of the same majority and the same model of personnel reproduction.
How the noise around Maria Filipova diverts attention
The appearance of Maria Filipova on the public list is not a real nomination, but a tool. Her connection with Delyan Peevski was commented on immediately after her appointment as deputy ombudsman. Her name was put into circulation to clear the ground for the actual choice. The more noise around her, the better. This is how a figure who is actually agreed upon can be imperceptibly pushed through.
The noise around Filipova increases its decibels after each of her frank confessions of political illiteracy, uttered with astonishing primitivism. This is intrusively reminiscent of the circumstances surrounding the famous phrase attributed to Neycho Neev from the Berov cabinet, "The state is a joke, since I am its deputy prime minister".
The contrast between Glavchev and Gyurov
That leaves Dimitar Glavchev and Andrey Gyurov - two candidates who carry opposite political baggage.
Glavchev - a long-time GERB cadre, has been twice appointed by Radev as acting prime minister. The "crown" of his administrative experience, precisely in this capacity, was the scandalous organization of the last elections, which were partially quashed by the Constitutional Court. By the way, it was his government that decided to provide a state building to "DPS-New Beginning" in the center of Sofia. The property on "Vrabcha" Street was quickly vacated, which was interpreted not simply as a sign of political favoritism towards Peevski, but as a dependence on the Magnitsky-sanctioned political player.
The only candidate who is outside the network of ties with Peevski and Borisov is Andrey Gyurov - co-founder of "We Continue the Change", with no experience in the executive branch, a member of parliament in three parliaments, an expert with a pending court case due to his removal from the post of deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank due to delaying his exit from the management of several companies. Different lawyers interpret differently whether Gyurov's mandate, which has not been terminated by the National Assembly, allows for the possibility of him being an acting prime minister. If this does happen, does it mean that Radev (Iotova) or vice versa Yotova (Radev) have considered it a profitable direction to reach out to those who managed to bring young people to the most massive protests in recent decades?
Yotova's appetites and Radev's influence
Who is actually advising the president today? What is the role of Nikolay Koprinkov in her entourage? In what way will the choice of the future caretaker prime minister help Radev present himself as a fighter against the model in which he himself has been comfortably residing for the last 9 years?
Let's not forget the personal political ambitions of Iliyana Yotova and her potential rise in the next presidential elections. She has a direct interest in building and establishing her own institutional profile, distinguishable from Radev's. If the choice is interpreted as entirely his, this would reinforce the notion of dependence and limit her space for autonomous political action in her future presidential campaign. In which - not surprisingly - the main driving force will be Nikolay Koprinkov.