Galery

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So far, it seems that the reformist bloc is the only political alternative to the government and the calls are for it to become the Fatherland Front against the mafia. However, some of its participants had had a corrupt relationship with it in the past. Where should we draw the line beyond which such actions should not be forgiven?

In Bulgaria, the political debate is often replaced by a moral and legal one. We may not agree with the right-wing political solutions offered by the reformist bloc but that does not mean that we should declare them criminals. Mafia is something specific. It exists, of course, but not on such a large scale as it seems when you read the exalted “writers” on Facebook. The scale of clientelism, which involves the giving away of government “things” to the entourage, whether for money or for political support, is much larger. You have probably seen this figure, namely that the number of the companies which had won government contracts while Borisov was in power had dropped to 200 compared with 1,200 at the time when Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was in power. The same goes for the clienteles of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF). However, such networks are not necessarily criminal, they usually use some loopholes. By criminalizing the reformist bloc or any other party, we are creating conditions for us to be disappointed later when the court will not find a reason to sue them. The tainting of Mrs. Kuneva during the latest elections was sheer madness. I had not seen anything like that and it was because of her father-in-law, and why, because she had helped Bulgaria access the EU! Not to mention Kostov who is the demon of Bulgarian transition. I have another concern regarding the reformist bloc, namely that I do not know exactly where it is standing, what alternative it is offering, I mean political rather than moral. We only know that it hates Russia but how will it break up the energy monopolies, how will it terminate the contracts with the photovoltaic companies and the Maritza plants ...

What do you expect from tomorrow's session of the Parliament?

I expect nothing special. I do not believe that the Attack party will change its mind. These people are getting their revenge and I have the feeling that they have not had enough of it. However, if the budget adjustment is not passed for some reason, this will be an excuse for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) regarding all the bad things that will happen from now on and an opportunity for them to redirect popular anger against the President.

What could the institutions, the President, the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition do from now on?

Mr. Borisov is trying to ally with the reformist bloc but, for now, he has drawn a blank because a large number of the voters of this future coalition (?) would not accept a union with the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party. The President can mediate, but I do not imagine that this will materialize without the withdrawal of Borisov and Tsvetanov, without putting in the foreground an acceptable person of European type like (Tomislav – author’s note) Donchev.  

The ones you have mentioned can form a right wing alternative. Mr. Borisov is trying to ally with the reformist bloc but, for now, he has drawn a blank because a large number of the voters of this future coalition (?) would not accept a union with the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party. The President can mediate, but I do not imagine that this will materialize without the withdrawal of Borisov and Tsvetanov, without putting in the foreground an acceptable person of European type like (Tomislav – author’s note) Donchev. The problem is that if we put a stake on the right wing, the left measures of the BSP will automatically begin to outweigh it although they are not particularly serious (Oresharski - left, this is absurd!). The ideological hyper right-wing deviation played a practical joke on Bulgaria in the early 1990's when it was the reason for the BSP to survive and become a left-wing alternative. If I were in the place of the opposition forces today, I would bet on more centrist, more pragmatic views, which would make the BSP unwanted rather than heroic.