The scenario of DPS not appearing in elections for the first time since 1990 seems to be more real. The war in DPS entered a new stage with the decision of the people around Ahmed Dogan to exclude Delyan Peevski and his associates from the party. The following are answers to all the questions you have about the DPS battle.
The mess in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) has become full. The narrow leadership expelled one of the two chairmen from the party – Delyan Peevski, sanctioned for corruption by the USA and Great Britain.
With this, the war between him and the honorary leader of the DPS Ahmed Dogan became full-scale. In the words of Dogan himself, it came to this point because “the boy overdid it too much” and “there is no turning back for him“.
This is in Katerina Vasileva's analysis of “Free Europe”.
Thus, the probability that the movement will not appear in the October elections in the form in which it participated in elections since 1990 has sharply increased.
The reason – opens the possibility for a series of legal disputes without an obvious outcome as to who are the legitimate representatives of the DPS.
Dogan and his cronies in the Central Operations Bureau (CBO) excluded seven more people from Peevski's circle, as well as ten regional chairmen.
However, this raised questions. Is the decision to exclude these people legitimate? Can the CSO remove one chairman at all? Can Dogan personally? What will this mean for participation in the vote on October 27?
Many of these questions have no clear answer – the two sides in the dispute interpret the party's constitution differently, and it itself is not unambiguous. In addition, according to the DPS registration in court, Peevski and the other chairman, Jevdet Chakarov, who is on Dogan's side, still represent the DPS before other institutions “jointly and separately”.
This will involve Peevski and Dogan in a series of cases. Any move by one of the two parties can be attacked by the other in court.
What exactly happened?
On Tuesday evening, DPS-Dogan sent a press release to the media. It says that the close leadership (CSO) held a meeting at Dogan's request and decided to exclude Peevski both as a member and as chairman of the party.
In a video of the meeting released a day later, Dogan says that he “has already taken too much from the boy. There is no going back for him, but there is no going back for us either. In his words, “this decision is expected by all of Bulgaria” and the task before DPS-Dogan is not to save DPS, but to save Bulgaria.
At the meeting, seven more people were excluded, including some of the most famous names in the DPS – Yordan Tsonev, Iskra Mihailova, Hamid Hamid, Stanislav Anastasov.
What they have in common is that they sided with Peevski in the conflict between him and Dogan. It began at the end of June with Peevski's removal of people close to Dogan from the party's structures and from the parliamentary group.
The conflict became public when the parliament had to vote on a government proposed by GERB. Part of the DPS MPs (close to Peevski) supported him, the rest (Dogan's people) – no. This was followed by the exclusion of Dogan's people from the DPS parliamentary group, whose chairman is Peevski.
In the two months since then, the rift has taken on different dimensions – both in politics and business. The exclusion of Peevski from the DPS is the most serious.
Only half a year ago, he was elected as the one chairman at the request of Dogan himself, who called him a “phenomenon”. The other leader of the DPS became Chakarov.
On July 10, Dogan demanded the resignation of Peevski and his associates. According to MEP Ilhan Kyuchuk from DPS-Dogan, everything revolves around this request and the “will” of the honorary chairman, which gives legitimacy to the exclusion of Peevski.
Peevski, however, said that the decision was “unconstitutional” and taken by “breakaways” who have lost their “party quality”.
How are people excluded from DPS?
A matter of interpretation. The statute says that expulsion is decided by the structure to which the respective member belongs or by a “higher authority”.
It is known that the Central Committee is not the highest body of the party because it has to implement the decisions of two others. These are the Central Council (the broad leadership) and the National Conference (the supreme body that elects the party chairman).
CSO first excluded Peevski and his associates as members of the party, and then released Peevski as chairman of DPS, reads the press release of DPS-Dogan.
„Capital“ it says that the Central Council can decide to exclude, but the Central Council must confirm it. Dogan is said to be struggling to secure a majority in the council, which is why he has not convened it yet. However, Peevski's camp also does not have a majority.
The National Conference is the only body that can appoint a party chairman, and it is claimed that it is the only one that can remove him. The convening of such a conference, which according to the statute would give a more certain answer whether Peevski remains at the head of the DPS, is not possible before the elections. No time for that.
And what does the statute say about the honorary chairman? It is a figure created especially for Dogan after he stepped down as leader in 2013. Dogan's will is above all else, Kyucyuk told bTV. According to him, with the meeting of the narrow leadership, Dogan's decision to exclude Peevski from the party "automatically becomes valid".
Dogan himself says in the video of the meeting that “I am the higher-ranking authority even than the CSO”.
For the honorary leader, however, the statute – black on white – it only says that he is the embodiment of the party's values and strategic goals. According to the interpretation of DPS-Dogan, this means that “his decisions bind all bodies and structures”. This is not written down anywhere, nor that Dogan has the right to single-handedly expel party members.
Is the decision legitimate?
Both Peevski and observers defend the claim that the decision of the CSO is not legitimate. It is attacked for two reasons:
Quorum Doubts. A quorum of two-thirds of its members is required to hold a meeting of the Central Committee. The CSO has 24 members, so 16 must be present. DPS-Dogan avoided questions about whether this condition was met. A Free Europe check showed that 14 members sided with Dogan. They are the majority – that is, they can make decisions, but they are not enough for a quorum to start a meeting themselves.
Doubts whether CSO has such rights. Due to the described ambiguities in the statute, who can make decisions to exclude party members and the chairman.
How can it be appealed?
The exclusion of Peevski and those close to him is not final. It can be appealed to the next party body – The Central Control Commission.
It has four members. Only one of them is supposed to be on Peevski's side. In addition, the deadline for the commission's decision on a given issue is three months, and the elections are before its end. And it is unlikely that a decision will be reached that is beneficial for Peevski.
It is also not certain that Peevski will even appeal his exclusion before this commission.
How will DPS appear in the elections?
The uncertainties will affect the DPS participation in the elections for a new parliament, which will be held on October 27.
Even before the expulsion of Peevski, Free Europe wrote that there will be a dispute between the two wings of the DPS about who will register the party for the elections. Peevski and Chakarov will compete for this, and the loser will contest the decision in court.
This is still very likely. Regardless of whether Peevski's exclusion is legitimate or not, the register of political parties still says that Peevski and Chakarov represent the party “together and separately”. Any change must be entered in the Sofia City Court (SGC), which is unlikely to happen before the elections.
For the Central Election Commission (CEC), it is precisely what is written in this register that matters. And the documents that the commission requires from the parties in order to register them for the vote include the “current status as of the date the vote is scheduled”. That is, in this document it will still be written that DPS has two presidents.
With two equal leaders, the “first in time is first in law” rule applies when it comes time to register.
If Peevski is the first to try to register DPS and the CEC approves, Chakarov will probably contest the decision on the grounds that Peevski has been removed as chairman by a decision of the CEC. The decisions of the CEC are contested before the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), which acts in very short terms during elections.
That is why it is very important what the sentiments are in the CEC and VAS. The CEC is considered to be dominated by GERB and the DPS, but it is not known what the attitudes are regarding the conflict in the DPS. The chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court, Georgi Cholakov, is associated with Peevski.
When must parties and lists be registered?
Until September 11. That is, DPS has less than two weeks to register for the vote.
If the CEC refuses registration, the SAC must confirm or cancel this refusal. If he cancels it, the CEC must still register the party by September 21.
Lists of candidates for deputies are registered until September 24.
Is there time for a new party of Dogan or Peevski?
No. There is no way to create and register a party in less than two weeks. The law on political parties in Bulgaria provides much longer terms for this.
Can they use other parties?
Yes. DPS-Dogan and DPS-Peevski could use the registration of another already established party with which to appear in the elections.
If one of the two wings manages to register the current DPS, it is likely that the other camp will appear in a coalition with another organization. It is also possible that no one will be able to register a DPS because of the expected disputes – that is, to reach a situation where DPS does not participate in the elections for the first time since 1990, and both factions appear, but under different names.
Who holds the money?
Whoever represents the DPS also has control over the party's financial resources. A curious question is whether Peevski can operate independently with the movement's money. The reason is the sanctions imposed on him for corruption by the USA and Great Britain.
Why is it important who gets the DPS stamp?
What are we talking about when we talk about DPS? This is an important issue because DPS is an important party. She has participated in every parliament since 1990 and in several administrations. It has a strong influence, even when it is formally in opposition.
The majority of Muslims in the country traditionally vote for DPS. The party was created in 1990, immediately after the end of the communist regime, which forcibly changed the names of Bulgarian Turks. It is the restoration of their rights that is the reason for the emergence of DPS.
Later, however, its representatives – led by Peevski and Dogan, are often associated with suspicions of abuse of power, corruption and influence in the judicial system and business.
The outcome of the conflict between them will be decisive for Bulgarian politics. However, it remains unclear who has a better chance of winning. And what does it even mean to be a winner.
The title is on FACTS. BG.