Sofia found itself in a difficult situation and for days the city was left without surface public transport. The politicians who appointed Terziev as mayor even made the gross mistake of holding protests in his defense. I say this is a gross mistake because none of the voters, excluding, of course, party agitators, like it when people come out in defense of the government. The counter-protest in support of Terziev is reminiscent of the sham counter-protests in defense of Oresharski's cabinet. If this is not irony of fate, I don't know what is.
This is what Petar Kicashki commented on for FACTI.
Apart from this lyrical digression, however, it is important to make a few clarifications.
First, Terziev is a weak mayor.
His justification, given in a national broadcast, was “I am not a magician“. He also opposed drivers to parents, saying that if public transport were paid for, there would be no kindergartens. Opening such rifts and oppositions in a city is not just harmful, it is dangerous. And regarding “magic” - it is clear that you are not a magician. No one expected you to be a magician. But people elected you to solve problems. Which you obviously do not know how to solve. In this case, Mr. Borisov's assessment that Terziev is "incompetent" is clearly correct. Terziev simply cannot deal with these problems and does not know how to govern the city.
There are at least two arguments for his incompetence here. On the one hand, when you ran for mayor, didn't you know about the problem with public transport and that there are no drivers? If you didn't know - why are you running at all when you have no idea what the problems are? If you did know, then why haven't you been looking for a solution to this problem for half a term? On the other hand, the analogy with the previous city government is inevitable. If there are such problems, why has the city never been blocked like it is now? Why didn't we have such problems under Fandakova, Borisov, or even Sofianski? The conclusion is obvious - they simply understood more than Terziev.
Secondly, the attempt to blame the previous city governments is very nefarious.
If such a protest had broken out immediately after Terziev's election, we could assume that the opposition had a hand in it. But the protests are taking place in the second year of his mayoralty, i.e. in the middle of the term. How many years will we wash our hands of the previous ones? Separately, if the mayor and his party suspect the management of land transport of ties to GERB, why weren't these people replaced in the last two years? Why did Terziev trust himself, even if there was such a conspiracy, to GERB people and let them lead, since he is apparently now trying to justify himself with them?
I don't know if the opposition has a hand in what is happening. But the most important thing is that this, even if true, is irrelevant.
As a ruler, you are obliged to protect your back from any attempt by the opposition to destabilize you.
Not only that - you must expect such moves, foresee them and look for ways to neutralize them before they appear. This is a natural instinct of anyone who has any political and public experience. The point is that Terziev does not have any. None. He comes with all his inexperience and plants himself on goose eggs. Then he wonders why ducklings have hatched from under him. How could it be otherwise when you have done nothing to protect your government? After all, the mayor of Sofia is a very politically influential figure who can have a lot of influence and has a huge arsenal of tools.
But here is Terziev, who goes on the air after we haven't seen him for half a term and says "tell me how to solve the problem". Man, there are many ways to solve the problem, but that's the mayor's job. If I, Pencho, Ivancho or someone else tell you how to deal with the crisis, then what exactly are you doing, that I don't understand? Escaping responsibility is a privilege that a ruler cannot adorn himself with. You were elected precisely to bear responsibility. And to be the one who solves problems. To be the factor who knows how to foresee the problem and be able to solve it before it even arises. When Borisov ordered to catch snowflakes in the air, the liberals laughed at him. But what is hidden behind this sentence? There is a mentality of looking for solutions to a problem that has not yet appeared. Because once it appears, its solution becomes much more difficult and will inevitably bring damage.
When public transport is underfunded and wages are so low that drivers cannot be found, it is a ticking time bomb.
Leave the unkempt thoughts of various Facebook heroes who talk about how high salaries are in public transport. They are not. Salaries are low for a driver in Sofia, and drivers earn a normal income only because they work a lot of overtime. Therefore, most drivers drive so intensively after normal working hours that they are in clear violation of all labor regulations. Not to mention that the “Automobile Administration“ has no idea how they count driving hours on the drivers' digital tachographs. If the Sofia Municipality were a private company, by now both the “Automobile Administration“ and the Labor Inspectorate would have had their asses ripped off by fines and inspections. But since it is the municipality, this is washed away and there is no problem. And the drivers are taking a break from work to get something anyway.
What is the obvious solution? Simply – When you provide a service in one way, but you don't have the money to maintain it, then you bring it within your means. In Buenos Aires, when I last went, there was a huge public transport system and the buses run every few seconds. Because at that time, Argentina was governed by neo-communists who made sure to have a lot of people working in transport in order to have voters in the form of those involved in the process. Today, under the leadership of Javier Milley, the country has cut subsidies for the municipality for public transport, which has led to raising public transport prices and reducing the number of vehicles on the lines. This has put the municipality on track, and currently the public transport system is exactly what Buenos Aires can afford to maintain. And this is just one of the solutions, there are many others, but it is the mayor's job to propose solutions. It is not ours.
When Terziev was elected mayor almost two years ago, I said in the capital's press that we need to prepare for Sofia's decline.
I predicted that the municipality would start to have problems with garbage collection, public transport, and homeless people on the streets, arguing this with the specifics of a city government when it is led by a leftist.
How relevant these words of mine sound today! And this is not because I am some kind of super-analyst, but because I know how to put two and two together. When one two - managerial weakness and incompetence, are combined with the other two - governance under the banner of leftist utopias and an inferiority complex, manifesting in a desire to "save" the community, the following four are obtained - failure. There is simply nothing else to be done.