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Anastasia Balezdrova

Two days after the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, the uncertainty about who will take power is still present. Meanwhile, the leaders of several small parties that failed to cross the 4% threshold to enter parliament resigned, which is creating an expectation of renewal and a possible shift in the ratios of the political spectrum.

GRReporter continues the series of interviews on the subject with intellectual Milena Fuchedzhieva. She is a writer, screenwriter, director and creator of the popular series in Bulgaria "Seven Hours Difference".

Mrs. Fuchedzhieva, do you feel represented in the new parliament?

No, I am not represented in it. I just voted for the lesser evil.

Do you think that the majority of Bulgarians are represented in it?

I think that the Bulgarians are definitely represented in it. And I do not accept the stigmatization of some sociologists, analysts and commentators, namely that if you vote for the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party you are a scoundrel or a pop-folk fan and that if you vote for someone else you are something else. For me, the election results are indicative of the fact that the people do not want the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to rule them. However, GERB failed to deal with the situation in Bulgaria in economic terms. Moreover, it ruled during a severe international crisis. No government could have hardly have emerged from this situation unscathed.

Unfortunately, the small right-wing parties are gone. On the other hand, it is good because I see that in fact, the young people in big cities voted for GERB en masse, which means that there is a desire and room in this space. The future will show whether GERB will remain in history as a major party or not, but either way, there is room for something new. It is clear that the young people do not care about Ivan Kostov, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) or about the familiar faces. They want new leaders who will be presented in a different way.

I think that a sufficient number of people voted in the elections. There is a decreased interest in elections as well as distrust in politicians everywhere in the world. In such an atmosphere, it is very difficult to win the elections in a landslide.

But even after all the scandals, the fact that GERB has retained its leading position proves that the people do not want to be ruled by the BSP, without this meaning that it would not do so.

We saw a complete fragmentation of the right wing. Why did this happen? And how could one, at least strengthened, if not uniform, right-wing party, be formed in Bulgaria?

Apparently, the former names no longer mean anything to young people. The former leaders do not have the charisma that attracts them. Recently, it has been particularly important how you look, how you act, whether you can speak the language of young people, the language of the street, all those languages which are outside the circles of intellectuals and the elite. If you do not speak those languages, ​​you have no chance of winning.

Ivan Kostov is a very intelligent man, but unfortunately, he should have resigned long ago. Boyko Borisov took offence at the people who went out in the streets and he resigned. Of course, I think this was not only inspired by the people. This was a very well organized active development with the participation of the Committee for State Security, the BSP and Russia. They just could not forgive him for what he had done for Belene. So, he took offence and left. On the other hand, Kostov had taken offence in the past as well. These are people with big egos, who take offence and leave, which does not do any good. It is just because there is no room for liking and when one is engaged in power, he or she should know that he or she could do everything. And in Bulgaria, even more of everything.

Meglena Kuneva is also a very intelligent woman with experience in Europe, but the way she talks and looks takes her too far away from the Bulgarian people. She can enchant part of the urban population, and not very large part of it, although she did not perform poorly in these elections. And in my opinion, she made the same stupid mistake. Even before anyone had heard of her, as they say, she resigned. How is that? These were her first elections. Why did she resign?

At first, I was against Borisov’s entering politics. I have written a lot of spiteful things against him. When I returned to Bulgaria, things there seemed to be very good but, apparently, they just seemed so, whereas the people were very poor and continue to be poor. GERB pursued the policy of budget cuts, as in other countries, but in Bulgaria, it is simply not possible to tighten the belts more because the people are really poor.

Personally, I was hoping that Ivan Kostov and Nadezhda Neynski would be able to come to an agreement. But by failing to do so, they deprived me of my representation in parliament. I think they are both very experienced and intelligent politicians with great experience and I was hoping that they would be able to agree. But they quarrelled again, and so I voted for GERB, because for me it was important to vote for the one whom the red tainted the most. That is just my inner logic and I am comfortable with my choice.