The protest is an immune reaction of society against government outrages. The fact that it is happening gives hope for Bulgaria. Because most of the great successes after 1989 began precisely with a protest outburst of civic energy.
Comment by Daniel Smilov:
Bulgaria is once again entering a protest period as in 2013 and 2020. The problems against which citizens are protesting are the same. Their personifications are the same: Boyko Borisov, Delyan Peevski, the Prosecutor General, the conquered services and other supposedly independent institutions.
The protests are an immune reaction of society against government outrages. The current edition of civil discontent is directed against a serious danger to Bulgarian democracy: if the systematic violence and repression against the opposition are not stopped, the country will slide towards authoritarianism.
The function of civil protest
The experience of 2013 and 2020 shows that protests by themselves do not lead directly to a solution to the political crisis, but they are a necessary element of this solution and without them it will never happen. The function of civil protest is as follows:
1. It shows that a sufficient number of citizens are willing and able to freely and voluntarily oppose government actions that are against the public interest. People come to this type of protest not because some of their private interests are directly threatened, but because they do not want to live in an authoritarian state;
2. The protest also fixes the nature of government outrage in the public sphere. In this case, we are talking about a very serious offense: systematic harassment and repression of the opposition by the ruling party. The opposition was first attacked through the APS, and then - using the same technology - through the PP-DB. The leaders of these parties are being investigated and every kind of pressure is being exerted on them to give up their activities - Dzhevdet Chakarov has already done so;
3. The protest also fixes those responsible for the outrage. Of course, the direct culprits are Acting Prosecutor General Sarafov and the heads of services and anti-corruption agencies. The political sponsors or at least beneficiaries of the action are also known - Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borisov. Whether it is a direct order or a mixture of political encouragement and overdoing it in front of the "boss" by the services - this is a secondary question. In both versions, the responsibility of politicians is present. Some claim that Peevski is the initiator of the actions against the opposition, while Borisov did not know about some of them (at least for Varna). But these rumors are more like intrigues that want to bring some confusion to the situation. The responsibility of Borisov and Peevski for the actions is solidary, shared, and this is evident from the fact that neither of them has condemned these actions, nor has shared dissatisfaction with the actions of state bodies in relation to them. Politics is still in the public sphere, not in the intimate thoughts and fears of politicians;
4. The protest is a demonstration of the intensity of the civil rejection of certain policies. The current protests are quite large-scale and are similar to those in 2013 and 2020. They also have the potential to expand after August, especially if the detention of people due to extremely dubious "testimonial" testimonies continues. The increase in protests over the last ten days is also visible, despite the generally holiday season. In August, things may calm down temporarily, but energy will build up for September and the political season will probably begin with extremely large-scale protest actions. Therefore, the hope of the ruling party that the protests will subside by themselves seems highly unjustified;
5. The thesis about the "laundering" of Peevski and Borisov has fallen away. Whatever bleaching effect time and the "assembly" have had, new compromising stains have appeared again on the same, traditionally stained parts;
6. PP-DB was given grounds without much hesitation to submit and vote on votes of no confidence against the "Zhelyazkov" government. The gentlemanly gesture of the democratic opposition to support the ruling party for the eurozone was answered with arrogant ingratitude and unjustified repression. Therefore, the questions about a vote of no confidence, when to submit it, etc. are simply tactics. The fact that they have to be discussed with parties like MECH or "Vazrazhdane" does not make PP-DB "pro-Russian". In fact, voting together with others against a government is not a request for joint government with them;
7. The process of nominating a common candidate for the democratic community becomes central and even more important. The candidate will now have the additional cause of becoming the embodiment of the fight against authoritarian tendencies in Bulgaria. Ivan Kostov said two things about the current situation that are particularly important. First, that theoretically there are candidates who could be supported by both the democratic community and GERB. Second, that political repression is being exercised against the PP. It follows from both statements that talks about any kind of cooperation with GERB can only be discussed if Borisov and his party members declare themselves against the current political repression and take action against it. At the moment, this does not seem likely to happen. On the contrary: Borisov does not see the problem and continues with his tirades against the PP-DB;
8. The protests ultimately fix the bond between Peevski and GERB in the public consciousness. While Peevski has an interest in proudly displaying this connection, Borisov has always preferred more discreet seams and forms of binding;
9. The protests mobilize the party cores of both sides in the conflict. But if they are fair, as they are at the moment, they have the ability to mobilize the periphery of the political formations that support them. This means that PP-DB gets a chance to return part of its periphery, while GERB is more likely to lose its. The mobilization in "New Beginning" is taking place through other channels - with the most unpopular and disliked leader in Bulgaria, they are expanding their support, which shows that this process is not about standard political methods;
10. Finally: the protests can become a reason for an external reaction from the EU or partner countries. The presence of the German ambassador at the protest, the interest of German media in Bulgarian politics are all signals in this direction. What they will lead to, however, remains a Bulgarian internal matter. But anyway, the controversial reputation of Peevski and Borisov in Europe cannot benefit from the scandals that have erupted, which led to the civil protest.
Hope for Bulgarian democracy
In short: the protests are a meaningful expression of civil energy, which prepares a certain political outcome. As an immune reaction, they are inevitable - and the fact that they are currently happening gives hope for Bulgarian democracy. In order for there to be a positive solution, however, civil energy must also be transformed into electoral energy. This has not always worked out in the best way - neither in our country, nor in neighboring Serbia, nor in other similar places. But let's hope that these are lessons learned that will help to avoid mistakes that have already been made. Because, after all, most of the great successes of Bulgarian politics after 1989 began with a protest outburst of civic energy.
This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State Gazette as a whole.