Ottoman rule, Russian influence, Ferdinand, DPS, NDSV... Who is to blame for the failure of the democratic community in Bulgaria? It's very simple, writes Ivaylo Noisey Tsvetkov and lists 12 reasons.
Why does the Bulgarian democratic community fail?
It's that simple, sorry. Here are 12 points.
1. Historically, we have missed the revolutions in Europe, and especially the Enlightenment, because of the Ottoman rule, ie. in our mental software there are no set and inherent "commands" for civil upheaval and control. This is not only our problem – it was observed, for example, for a while among the Poles, and among the Baltic republics, and elsewhere, but we were destined by fate to like Russian because of the Liberation. Without realizing that the Russian occupied us immediately after that, and everything was repeated at the end of the 1940s under Stalin.
2. The attempt of the Ferdinand state not only to consolidate itself as independent, but also to militarily unite the Bulgarian land, was a terrible failure (twice even – in 1913 and especially 1918).
3. Then there's a really terrible period – The 1920s, when in a de facto undeclared civil war the young farmers and communists (the latter spurred on by the Comintern) did monstrous things like the 1925 assassination, and the Tsankovist state responded with an equally monstrous response. After all, the state became completely police after the nineteenth century, especially after Boris the Third became a de facto true suzerain and (in a whisper) sole ruler.
The 1960s: fear reigns supreme
4. In Yalta, we are sewn, on a napkin or not, to Stalin. A terrible social change is coming and another merciless slaughter – the lowlanders take power and kill not only the elite but the neighbor with ugly, perverse pleasure. Some kind of proto-communism is reigning with camps, in which even Shalamov will not survive to tell. And which continued until the mid-1960s. In this model, the leading factor is fear – no one dares to call. This continued until the late 1970s. During that time, in the 1960s, to be fair, people dressed relatively well, looked for French cinema, were quite on time. In the 1970s, there were no such extras – even a pair of western jeans or a vinyl record of a western rock band become treasures.
5. By the mid-1980s, it was already understood that the entire communist system was not just opening up, but that it was not what it was thought to be. They are born - everywhere, including in the USSR – rock bands, "informal" and, towards the end, attempts at civil organizations.
NDSW: the darkest period of the transition
6. Come 1991, there is no more communism, only post-communism, and that is bad again, because communism is already posing as socialism, especially here. The new "social capitalism" owns almost all medium to large businesses. In 1997, for the first time, the Big Cop let go of power in a controlled manner, so as not to trigger a decades-delayed popular uprising. And it gives the impression – once in a lifetime – that the democratic community has all the power. Of course, she gets drunk on it and says "oops, we've got it now", and despite some undeniable achievements like dropping visas and moving us towards future Euro-Atlantic membership, fails miserably at the expense of a mere political card player . The absolute darkest period of the transition follows – NDSV, when, again with the help of the then living puppeteers from the DS, the corruption model was finally reigned, which will later be reproduced in the form of GERB.
7. Meanwhile, the role of the DPS has been key all this time: it is the same today, however fragmented it may be. We will pose as a balancer of interests, we will scare with the ethnic map (without us it will become at least Kosovo), and other pacifiers for a subordinate electorate of about 300,000. Also meanwhile, the democratic community, set "software" from the SDS, it has been swarming for a long time, they cannot understand each other, each is smarter and more of a leader than the other.
8. Next comes the "Brezhnevsky" a GERD standoff where Democrats decide they're not going to sit hungry and watch from the sidelines after self-inflicted destruction and sell the civil uprising of 2013-14 that will never happen again. This is the first time you've made an alliance with the devil and made a Mephistophelian deal. There are others to come.
How the chance was missed
9. After 2020 and Covid, the democratic community receives an entirely undeserved gift from fate – a majority that she herself fails due to basic poor training, ignorance of how this country works, and a certain gluttony, if there is such a word. The new cops, perfidious successors to the communist ones, sit and laugh and drink. The democratic community, precisely with these leaders, presents itself as ignorant at times, but mostly – as something that doesn't set hearts and minds on fire like it once did with those sweater leaders.
10. And now we are in the following situation: the Bulgarian democratic community, which nevertheless managed to get nearly 600,000 to recognize it very recently, is now fighting for the 300 (the obvious joke here – those of Leonid). It's hard for me to accept that the "deep" and "peevska" country, I would rather ask "but why are they still champions". And I would answer myself, in football terms – they have the better midfielders and lately the best striker. If you understand me.
11. What are the possibilities? There aren't many. The Democratic Community, for example, is silent on the subject of North Macedonia, and somewhat aristocratically leaves it to other parties – mistake. The same for energy – not explained well or at all (get a real PR) about the Marits and at all. There is also a structural problem – no serious "cells" in places, the democratic community becomes something Sofia, something withdrawn from the people, from the voices. And maybe something to turn into an appendage of GERD again. And if there is another "assembly" or "construct", Borisov, suddenly back in shape, will finish you.
12. And maybe something else. They may assemble a council of minds to discuss and impart wisdom - yet their constituents are mainly among the cultural elite. But now it's too late, they will lose this election again.
Excuse me, we, the real democrats, will lose them.
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This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial team and of DV as a whole.