BSP youth union, you were the first to demand the resignation of BSP chairman Kornelia Ninova, how will you comment on her submission?
The resignation of BSP chairman Cornelia Ninova is a key event for the party at such a difficult time. This is an opportunity to renew and reassess the direction and policies of the BSP. In a situation like this, where there is huge discontent among party members, it is clearly time for a change. From the National Council of the Youth Union in the BSP, we were the first to demand the resignation of the chairman, as in our opinion this is the only possibility for change and modernization of the party and the left.
Greater involvement of new people in governing bodies and decision-making is needed, as well as an update of BSP policies to better respond to contemporary challenges. The resignation is already a fact, the page is closed, it is the turn of the actions and the new horizons that sit before the BSP.
What is the position of the youth organization regarding the election of a new chairman? Do you have any suggestions?
As you already know from the press conference of the Operational Bureau of the Youth Union in the BSP, our position and our request is the resignation of Kornelia Ninova, which is already a fact, and the convening of the National Assembly of the BSP to convene a session of the Congress as soon as possible deadlines to unblock the procedure for electing a new chairman. For us, the new chairman of the BSP must be a dialogic, balanced person who will unite the party and the left in Bulgaria. The results we have in front of us are the fruits of an 8-year leadership of the party.
Let's show some facts about these 8 years of ruling a 130-year-old party by Mrs. Ninova: 2017 BSP had 955,000 votes and was the second political force, 7 years later, in 2024, we have 151,000 votes and we are the fifth political force with a 1% difference from the sixth. Every single leader of a party in Bulgaria, Europe and the world, at the first drastic drop in the number of voters of the party he leads, resigns and steps down.
This is usually the first step to the changes needed to raise the score. In the case of Mrs. Ninova, we had two supposedly real resignations, which she later changed her mind about, and now a third, which we all hope will be the last.
Is only Cornelia Ninova the reason for the weak result of the elections?
Management decisions and Ms. Ninova's approach to intra-party dialogue created challenges that definitely made coordination and unity within the party difficult. The lack of open and constructive dialogue between leadership and structures has led to misunderstandings and tensions that have weakened party mobilization and our ability to attract and retain voter support. Also, political strategy, intra-party dynamics and changing voter preferences are additional factors to consider.
What urgent changes do you think need to be made?
For me, Cornelia Ninova is a closed page in the leadership of our party. The new leader must unite the BSP. Real left-wing policies such as progressive taxation, protection and promotion of workers' rights, sustainable pension increases, improved health care and education, agriculture is also an extremely important topic.
Instead, we are currently wondering how to make the former youth chairman of the SDS Kaloyan Metodiev a BSP deputy in 25 MIR and how to be a toothless opposition and lose 30% of our voters compared to the previous elections. In such situations, change is necessary and inevitable.
We often hear representatives of the BSP leadership talking about the party's participation in a program government. Will a government be formed, according to you, should the BSP participate in it?
We should categorically not participate in a government with GERB, DPS or PP-DB, even in a programmatic one. Even on a temporary and supra-party basis, Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski will stand behind him. The BSP cannot and should not be part of a government with which we have been fighting for years. Political hypocrisy will be the end of the party, which we must not allow. It remains to be seen what the negotiations will be in the coming weeks and what the future government will look like, unfortunately, however, it will not be legitimate anyway, because the citizens, with the lack of voter turnout, have already shown their opinion of the political class in the last election - indifference.< /p>