Peevski's name in business circles is associated with racketeering and harassment. It has also become a symbol of corruption, shady business and controlled institutions. Along the schism in the DPS of the "Peevski" model could be a complicated end.
The schism in DPS is a fact and it is only a matter of time before it leads not only to the creation of two parties, but also to a serious redistribution of business circles around the Movement and its influence on all levels of power. And this reveals an incredible opportunity for Bulgarian society to get rid of one of the most vicious networks that have captured institutions, businesses and entire sectors of Bulgarian economic, political and social life.
The big difference between Dogan and Peevski
Unlike Ahmed Dogan, whom even in Delyan Peevski's camp they "love" and "respect", as Hamid Hamid and Yordan Tsonev shared, nobody harbors warm feelings towards the current co-chairman. Even on the contrary. Unlike the honorary chairman of the DPS, who in the years of the Transition managed to fabricate a chivalrous image in front of a significant part of the Bulgarian Turks, Delyan Peevski does not have a solid electorate behind him. Over the years, Peevski has put thousands out of work with the failed (or successful, if we assume that was the intent) businesses he created or bought and then failed. His name in business circles is generally associated with racketeering, harassment and pressure. He also managed to become an international symbol of corruption and shady business in Bulgaria, which "discredits democracy", as recently noted by the German MP Thomas Hacker - otherwise a representative of the same political family as the "phenomenon". in Bulgarian politics.
As we mentioned the European liberals - they also distanced themselves from the figure of Peevski and, whether because of the strong positions of Ilhan Kyuchuk in the European Parliament or for other reasons, they simply aligned themselves with Dogan. Peevski is certainly disliked in Moscow since he entered his new role as a Euro-Atlantic leader, who is otherwise sanctioned by the most prominent representatives of this Euro-Atlanticism. There is no question of support from Turkey - in 2016, he, like Dogan, was declared persona non grata in Bulgaria's southern neighbor.
Peevski still has leverage
However, Delyan Peevski is far from disarmed - he still has his levers of influence in the services, the judicial system and the law enforcement agencies. Here I am not slandering the prominent politician and businessman at all, but quoting his former party members such as Ramadan Atalay. The slightly hysterical tone with which Ahmed Dogan, otherwise known for his infinitely sophisticated and high-flown words, called on Peevski to step down and end the "fear psychosis" associated with "mutren approaches to threaten our families, to take away people's business with the prosecution and police services", was a direct confirmation of the sinister way in which the institutions are controlled by the now not so corpulent figure. And that confirmation coming from one of its creators or "fathers", as another one called them - Tsvetan Vassilev. The latest appointments of the official cabinet are just another attestation of how far this influence extends in political terms.
An incredible opportunity is revealed
DPS bastions largely remain Ahmed Dogan's bastions despite the division in the party and the golden cage in which the honorary chairman has had to live in the last few years. And precisely in these bastions it will be difficult to achieve a breakthrough. But with Peevski, the situation is a little different - the public discord and attacks against him, as well as the fact that he will most likely have to leave the DPS and start his own political project, reveal an incredible opportunity - of the " Peevski" finally be put to an end. Because everyone - from the people who became a direct victim of the politician and businessman Peevski, to the entire society that suffers from what was caused to the media and information environment in the country by the publisher and puppeteer Peevski, has an interest in him finally being held accountable for his actions. And some of his people will certainly turn their backs on him with the ease with which they were appointed to various posts during the rise of the "phenomenon".
And that is exactly what those who were on the squares in 2013 and 2020, and now are in the parliament, should talk about. On the squares where Peevski's name was most often mentioned, against whom hundreds of thousands rose up as early as 2013. But we do not hear these same activists, and now politicians, talking about the possibility of the dream of the so-called democratic community to finally become a reality. In fact, we hear each other, who entered the parliament from the squares, actively speaking on the subject and calling for unification against DPS, GERB and the "Peevski-Borisov" model. - Kostadin Kostadinov. And probably in the next election he will be rewarded for it.
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This comment expresses the author's personal opinion and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and DV as a whole.