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Former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is trying to renew GERB. Or at least trying to convince him. In a series of Facebook posts, he showed how he communicates with people from the youth organization and listens to their ideas for change.
At a meeting in May with the national and Sofia election headquarters, as well as with young people who will find a place in the lists, Borissov said the meetings had made him optimistic about the party. “I did not expect that we have such a strong growing shift of such literate, smart, beautiful and responsible young people,” he said. He added that GERB can make “a very good amalgam” of the skills of proven ministers and the energy of young people, whose strength and ambitions to channel for the benefit of society.
In all previous elections, Borissov announced a change in GERB’s lists, but it was usually cosmetic. Now it is bigger, as these examples show: in the lists in Blagoevgrad for the elections on July 11, only half of the 22 names are repeated; in the capital’s 25th district, where Borissov is traditionally the leader, only 19 of the 28 names are the same as in the spring leaves; and in Plovdiv, the list has been renewed to about 40%.
Updating, but not completely
Of course, the update in the lists does not mean that the parliament will be filled with new “gerberas”. In the spring elections, Borissov scored four men from the 25th MIR. In all likelihood, they will no longer be in the upcoming vote. The first four are now Borisov himself, Hristo Gadzhev, Anna Alexandrova and Lachezar Ivanov – all well-known muzzles. Young people are usually in the back.
They did not find a place in the lists for significant names for the GERB government – for example, Vezhdi Rashidov, who ran for many years from Plovdiv. The lists do not include the long-term MP Plamen Tachev, who led in Pleven, as well as the former member of the GERB leadership Plamen Nunev. In Ruse, Nunev was replaced by 21-year-old Georgi Krastev – not only in the list, but also as a regional coordinator. Krastev is still studying right at the University of Ruse.
The former Minister of Justice Desislava Akhladova, who returned to her judicial position, is also missing. And the former Minister of Ecology Ivelina Vasileva is not on the Burgas list, where she leads the new “gerber” Lyuben Dilov-son.
Already in the spring, iconic names such as former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov and the head of the budget committee Menda Stoyanova remained out of the board.
Borissov’s next attempt to “clean up”
Boyko Borissov has been prime minister for 9 years, 10 months and 14 days. Less than a month left him to overtake Stanko Todorov, who spent the longest time in this position. An important element of his successful survival strategy so far has been to get rid of ministers and officials and thus redirect public discontent. In the nearly ten years that Borissov has ruled three governments, 28 ministerial changes have taken place. The replacement of a large part of the candidate lists is a continuation of this strategy.
“When the ship sinks, the rats are the first to leave it” – this is the other hypothesis, explaining the absence of deputies loyal to Borisov, who were ready to perform legislative miracles to fulfill his orders.
The renewal of the lists is another attempt by Borissov to “cleanse” himself of the negatives brought to him by the government. But the renewal of GERB is impossible. Because GERB is Borisov. And he himself cannot be renewed. Even his former deputy, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, thought that Borissov could not do without him, since he was the one who built the party’s structures. But we saw that he was mistaken.
GERB without Borissov will end up as NMSS
According to the polls, GERB will most likely still be the first force in parliament. And this will turn the party into a factor in the creation of the next cabinet. There is a hypothesis that GERB could participate in governing the country if Borissov resigns. But this is unlikely. Borissov knows that if he does not hold the levers of power, there is no future. This was seen from the revelations of the official cabinet, which showed how deeply the state was occupied by Borissov and his circles. And GERB without Borissov will quickly go into oblivion, as happened with NMSS without Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Author: Georgi A. Angelov
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