Can you imagine Delyan Peevski, enjoying 2% public trust, to be proclaimed the Prime Minister of Republic of Bulgaria? Today he is the strongest in the country. For some, Peevski is already in power. By Evgeny Dainov.
All institutions - from the Court of Appeal down - demonstrate that for them Delyan Peevski is already in power. The court in question, in violation of all laws, the Constitution and the decision of the Constitutional Court, detained Ceyhan Ibryamov permanently. The Ministry of the Interior categorically, publicly and declaratively refuses to hunt down the buyers of Peevski's votes. Ministries, commissions, councils, committees and municipalities every morning, after waking up, start looking around for targets: What will Peevski himself want from me today? Can I guess and give it to him even before he asks for it? Who should I arrest? Should I fire? To threaten?
One minor procedural detail remains: Peevski, who enjoys two (2) percent public trust, to be proclaimed Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.
How did Bulgaria get to this point?
How did it get here? And what will we do with Prime Minister Peevski? Well, except that we will be in prisons and arrests – that is clear. Because the militiamen from the Appellate Court itself informed us: no laws apply to us, we do what we want; and as soon as we cut off Ibryamov, we can cut off any of you at any time.
The main reason to arrive at the real prospect "Peevski-Prime Minister" is the mentality of the modern clerk – whether he is a minister, deputy, judge, prosecutor, ministerial servant, municipal lackey, mayor, tax collector or forester. The mentality is summed up in one word: fear of the strong.
When institutions are gutted, laws don't work, rules apply only to ordinary people, and officials are appointed on the principle of reverse selection (the more unfit – the better) – then what the clerk does is based solely on passions: liking, disliking, malice, envy, greed. And bowing to the powerful, because where there are no rules, everything is regulated by power.
Today, in the midst of institutional chaos and contempt for the law (well, how can appellate judges claim that an amendment to the NPC neutralizes the Constitution?) it is important for the official to quickly navigate where the power lies. She is obviously no longer in Borisov. On the contrary, he is visibly subordinated by Peevski to the extent that Borisov himself had subordinated Manfred Weber, for example ("with two hundred"). Therefore, Peevski is the strong one. To him is due fear, flattery and obedience.
Besides the officials, most of the politicians try to catch fish in murky water. Their game, as we saw in the last parliament, is clear. They will not vote on any legislation unblocking payments under the Recovery and Development Plan. No, because first, these laws limit the possibility of theft by the government and, second, because this money itself comes with control. It is easier to steal money from the republican budget. Therefore, all parties, except PP-DB, have made the conscious decision to use the chaos to provide themselves with better conditions for stealing. They don't realize that in this chaos, the power goes into the hands of Delyan Peevski and, when he finally settles there, he won't allow them to steal a penny more. Everything will be only for him.
How can Peevski's power be formalized
What could the formalization of Peevski's power look like? Easy: to be presented to the President to obtain a mandate to form a government. What prevents Borisov, turned into a helpless slave of Peevski, from doing exactly that in his capacity as the leader of the largest parliamentary group? It is not even necessary for Peevski to enter the parliament for this scheme to happen. Borisov simply sends Delyan Slavchev Peevski to the presidency and that's all.
At this moment, the revolted citizenry will have to intervene, as well as one who refused to hand over a mandate to Peevski's president.
The situation is a test of the tenacity of Bulgarian democracy. So far, it has not been possible for someone to take power with two percent support, acting solely through the structures of the state. Peevski, however, clearly follows the line recently developed in the US by Trump's aides, namely: It is not necessary for power to be taken by elections.
Until now, Bulgarian democracy has withstood such tests only because huge masses of riotous citizens have been involved in its defense. After the split in the DPS, citizenship did not interfere, as – understandable – expected the DPS itself to deal with its problem. Today, however, since the DPS is clearly not dealing with "the boy", the problem is now all of us.
***
This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and DV as a whole.