After a 10-month break, Bulgaria has a regular cabinet. 20 years after the Triple Coalition between NMSV, BSP and MRF, today we are again witnessing a similar construction of three parties, with the support of a fourth.
According to sociologists' surveys, the majority of Bulgarians had stated that they would accept a cabinet, even at the cost of major compromises.
But when it comes to specific names and different configurations, they specify, the picture changes. In this sense - the "Zhelyazkov" cabinet will not begin its work in conditions of high trust, but on the other hand - with huge expectations.
This is especially true for the parties that violated their electoral mantra, which gave them an opposition profile in recent years, namely - "never with this or that".
But, as the famous phrase from "Twin Peaks", whose director David Lynch passed away this week, says - definitely in politics "owls are not what they are".
Or as the "Financial Times" wrote in its news on the subject on Friday - "Pro-Russian party joins coalition government in Bulgaria". This means that the eyes on Sofia will not be directed at the actions of the cabinet as a monolithic body, but at the spectral differences in the ideology of the parties and their attempt to impose their line. This raises logical questions abroad, but more importantly - among Bulgarian society.
For example, if the door to the eurozone will soon close for the new cabinet, how can the BSP be convinced, which only 2 years ago, again as part of the government, voted against the National Plan for the introduction of the euro? In this sense, what actions will result from the sentence - "Continuation of efforts for Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone", written in the coalition agreement?
Imagine it as driving in the city at night. You are on a straight road, but a traffic light is approaching that turns yellow. Will you press the gas to pass before the "Positano" red light turns on? Agent Cooper said about "Twin Peaks" that this is a place where "when the light turns yellow here we slow down, not increase speed". Will this happen in our country too? And ITN - will they want a referendum?
Another issue that concerns not only Bulgaria, but also Brussels - the money under the Recovery Plan. The partners have written in their agreement an intention to "implement the investments envisaged in the plan in the digital and environmental transformation and the reforms supporting economic and institutional sustainability."
Does this mean that ITN will agree to the reclamation of coal mines? I remind you of the scenes at the last session of the 50th National Assembly, which was sabotaged at a late hour precisely to prevent the adoption of the updated roadmap for climate neutrality. Then GERB accused ITN and "Vazrazhdane" that because of their actions we will lose 2 billion leva. How will they act on this issue now, when they are already in a coalition? Will there be another cable cut in parliament?
The good news is that we won't need much time to sense the direction the new cabinet is taking, because overall, I think you'll agree - Bulgaria is the country of "open processes", in which even the hidden never remains hidden without any particular consequences due to the problematic judicial system.
And what will happen to it? What follows from point 5 of the Coalition Agreement, which states: "effectively operating anti-corruption bodies and independent regulatory bodies". And point 4.2 of the Priority Policies, which states: "freeing institutions from corrupt influence by introducing reforms in the judicial system".
What reforms? When? And how? With whom? A few more questions that will show us - whether the government is "for you and only for you". Or will it be like that famous phrase in the late David Lynch film - "do you guys want to play with fire"?
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