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Anastasia Balezdrova

The uncertainties surrounding the formation of the new Bulgarian government continue and there are no signs, not even vague ones, of who would be involved in its composition. It is only clear that President Rosen Plevneliev will convene a meeting of the new parliament not later than 24 May. Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov has determined the case of the ballot-papers found in the town of Kostinbrod to be a crime.

In this complicated situation, GRReporter has sought the opinion of the famous Bulgarian journalist and political commentator Ivo Indzhev.

Mr. Indzhev, how would you comment on the results of Sunday's elections? Do you feel represented in the new parliament?

I feel more betrayed than represented and that is why I can comment on the situation with sadness, or with another extreme emotion, namely sarcasm. It is because after 23 years of democracy given as a gift by the Soviet Union, we have returned to the starting point that is to hope or to build an alternative to the past, which we have been unable to get rid of effectively – this is what the result of these elections shows.

How do you define the election campaign compared to those during previous elections?

It was like a predictable Trojan horse race. If there is someone who is pleased, this is our former colonizer that today enjoys the Bulgarian overdependence on it.

What voters have remained unheard and unrepresented in parliament? What is their profile?

It is preciseley those voters, who are more selective and who are not omnivores in politics, who have remained unrepresented in parliament. Those who are demanding as regards the quality of the Bulgarian democracy have become orphans.

Many commentators argue that the elections have somewhat cleared the political terrain for the emergence of new personalities. How do you see the future of the right-wing union and who is the person who could lead a future right formation in your opinion?

This clearing is like forest fires in nature – they are sanitary under normal circumstances. However, in the political jungle of Bulgaria, it is more like the burning of stubble fields in Bulgarian villages: although this is prohibited, everyone does so regardless of the consequences for nature and of the risks of fires. It is just that the "forest-guard" is not here to introduce democratic order. Such were the claims of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha who had appeared in 2001 as a "forest-guard" (nicknamed "Rila’s guard"), but it turned out that he had come to reclaim his forests during the restitution. He had supposedly crashed the bipolar model but actually, he had broken the right wing and ruled two terms together with the left. The current situation, namely that the right wing has no political representation in parliament, is the result of this fire, which was not a spontaneous but a controlled one.

Photo: from Ivo Indzhev’s personal blog - ivo.bg

More or less, similar wiretapping scandals break out around the world. Yesterday, for example, we learnt that the government of the United States had been tapping the phones of 20 journalists from the Associated Press. Do you think that it was right that the whole election period was focused on the wiretapping scandal?

If only we had the problems Associated Press...

Is there censorship in Bulgarian media and what was their influence on the voters’ vote?

There are all kinds of censorship, but self-censorship is the worst. It is like the difference between murder and suicide, which is your own fault.

What do you expect to happen in Bulgaria in the coming months? Will the parties be able to form a government or will there be political instability? What is the best and the worst scenario?

The worst part is that there is even no scenario. And chaos gives birth to monsters.