Galery

1

Do you see a right-wing party appearing on the Bulgarian political scene?

Luben Dilov has a very good idea of selecting the people who want to participate in a new project through the internet. The idea is that there is no possibility of manipulating the people’s votes and opinions. However, Dilov insists on retaining the name of the UDF. I think that there is so much negative energy around those old "companies" that I do not know whether it is possible for something to revive from the past. This is what is wrong in his idea.

Furthermore, I believe that there are many young and smart people in GERB, who can do the job and have good potential for the future. But I would not want them to experience the things that happened to the National Movement for Stability and Progress. GERB is under very strong pressure, the attacks by the BSP are scary. So, I do not know.

There is room for certain. There is something to be done and apparently, there is something right in the ruling of GERB since the party has won the elections again although Boyko Borisov had resigned. Perhaps this is the right direction but it is just hard to find new leaders of the calibre of Ivan Kostov, Nadezhda Mihailova, Petar Stoyanov or even a man with the charisma of Boyko Borisov, who started from nothing and has worked his way up.

But on the other hand, there is simply no prime minister in Bulgaria who has not been disliked within two years. This will always be so. In Bulgaria, there is intolerance to successful people who reach a peak. I am not commenting on the skills. Whatever you are, if you can get to the top, they will crush you.

How would you explain the fact that the majority of people voted for the four specific parties?

The MRF is an ethnic minority that bears many children and they are already mature enough to vote in the elections. They can vote and its percentage rate will increasingly grow. The percentage rates of the BSP will decrease because the pensioners will die. This sounds crazy, but it is a fact, it is associated with birth and death in some strange way. We do not give birth like the Turks do and we do not have this sense of unity that they have. For them, it is religiously grounded whereas we lack the sense of common faith in something. So, the result of the MRF was completely expected.

As for the Attack party, it won the votes of the angry, the poorest and the most desperate people, just because Volen Siderov each time presses the "buttons of evil" in some way. But in his statements on the night of the elections, he was the most accurate, clearest, explicit in what he wants. I can understand why an increasing number of people vote for him: He is just precisely specific. It is not that what he said would happen, but with all his experience, Volen Siderov has become a very good actor. Moreover, he also has an enviable charisma and he is not to be underestimated at all. I do not think that he will leave politics soon. But I think the support for the Attack party is the fault of the BSP because many people who had previously voted for GERB, now gave their votes to the Attack party.

I hear claims that many people voted for smaller parties. Without any pretence of being fully aware of the details, I do not think this is true.

What was the role of the media in manipulating the votes of the electorate?

Their role was crucial. Some media had tipped the balances to one side very aggressively. They said that some media belonged to GERB, but in the end, it turns out that they were just looking after their own interest and when they lost it, they retreated. This is quite a bitter lesson for all.

I can say that the major online media tried to be objective, but anyway, the hysteria connected with the ballot-papers a day before the elections was absolutely unacceptable. I do not understand why the Council for Electronic Media did not impose sanctions on the media that were disseminating such information on the day of reflection. However, I think this whole story played a dirty trick on them because I decided to vote although I was not sure if I was going to vote at first. I just do not believe that there was forgery in the same way that I do not believe that the riots began spontaneously. It is not that there was no reason for them, the prices of electricity and heating are insane. But the timing was chosen in a very good way. Everything was very well organized by the services through some parties.

I do not believe that the elections were falsified. This is malicious and it is not true. These elections were the most closely watched in years. But the BSP insisted on this from the beginning and continue to repeat it like a mantra. Sergey Stanishev is a very intelligent person, he has many qualities and I like him as a person, but he represents something very vicious. The bad thing is that all this has dragged the country into a vicious cycle which nobody knows when we will be able to break.

What do you see happening in Bulgaria?

For me, the best thing that could happen is for GERB to remain in position for the simple reason that it is absolutely unacceptable for the Attack party to rule and, as seen, the BSP has no scruples. Immediately after the elections, Stanishev said he was ready to negotiate with the Attack party. The MRF said that there was such an option; its leader Lutfi Mestan refuted it today, but we will see what will happen in the end. Anyway, GERB does not have to form a collation with the Attack party if they are to be a reasonable opposition and be able to participate in possible early elections.