/ world today news/ Kaloyan Pargov – leader of the capital’s socialists, at the BSP-Sofia conference on the upcoming presidential and early parliamentary elections on 11/14/2021.
Girlfriends and friends,
We are holding today’s conference of the City Council of the BSP – Sofia in an unusually aggravated political and economic-social situation, in a certain sense unique for the period of the thirty-year transition.
On November 14, cardinally important elections for president and parliament await us, given that for the first time since November 10, 1989, our country has been governed for six months by a caretaker cabinet, and for the first time Bulgarian voters will cast their vote three or four times during the same year.
The situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, which claims up to 160 human lives every day, is extremely alarming. Bulgaria is last in terms of vaccinated citizens in the European Union and first in terms of deceased patients from Covid-19. In most European countries, the vaccinated are over 70%, while in our country the percentage of vaccinated is frozen at around 20. With these rates of vaccination, Bulgaria can become dangerous for the normal life not only of ourselves, but also of the citizens of the other countries of The European Union.
Severe energy crisis. An intolerable rise in the price of electricity, heating and water, and goods for everyday consumption. Galloping inflation, which is yet to grow… I will not dwell on all the negative phenomena that have hit us in recent months. We all feel them.
The results of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections will depend a lot on how the parties did politics in the last year or a year and a half, what positions they took on the fundamentally important issues, whether they were complicit in the confrontation or sought national agreement, whether they were the cause of the street riots in the last two short-lived members of the National Assembly. It is a proven axiom that parties win or lose parliamentary elections depending on their national policy during the given period. Depending on whether they managed to find a successful synchronicity between party and national interests, how they acted, what trust they gained in society. It is not by chance that it is claimed that nowadays the televisions, the media in general, win the elections.
The introduced measures against the Covid-19 pandemic also require the upcoming campaign for the presidential and early parliamentary elections to be conducted mainly online and through modern means of multiplying party propaganda or campaign materials. Let’s bet on a massive presence in the conventional and modern media with meaningful theses and reasonable messages to ensure the trust of the citizens.
It is vital that we find ways to regain much of our own electoral fringe. And also our fellow citizens, who are respected by the behavior and style of the members of our parliamentary group in recent months, with the aim of avoiding and extinguishing the contradictions between the parliamentary parties in the name of national unity. It is a fruit of maturity that BSP is a more communicative party and not monolingual.
However, these successful steps cannot overcome the impression that the leadership of the BSP takes a hesitant position on various issues. A position of waiting and of coming to terms with a number of negative phenomena. Which he loses.
With less than two months left until the parliamentary elections, our party leadership is in a position to seek and find the answer to at least those problems that I indicated in the preamble of the report.
Correctly, right at the beginning of the first official cabinet, the leadership of the BSP and personally Kornelia Ninova expressed concern about certain actions of the new Minister of Health Stoycho Katsarov. We, from the City Organization, proposed that the inappropriate actions of Minister Katsarov be discussed at the level of the Prime Minister. But then we ourselves preferred to evaluate events in the medical field from the sidelines, wanting to give a fair positive assessment of the work of the government. It turns out that this tactic does not help anyone and that a party like the BSP, which fervently supports the candidacy of President Rumen Radev for a second term, can and should criticize any member of the cabinet who performs his duties poorly. I hope that already in the pre-election period, our party leadership will strengthen the support of the cabinet and by criticizing its shortcomings.
The leadership of the party took a correct position in relation to the crisis processes in the economy and in the social sphere, which were discussed. As for the threatening rise in prices in our country, the expertise of the BSP management is accurate and helpful.
The topic “energy” is key for the future of the country. In the BSP, we have a clear position on it, which we must clearly and unequivocally defend. The future of Bulgaria depends on reasonable policies and the development of this sector. With the presence of the Kozloduy NPP and the possibility of building the Belene NPP, our country should not allow itself to become an importer of electricity.
I expect the leadership of our party to more clearly articulate the words “sovereignty”, “residual sovereignty” and propose such a policy that could return the traditional markets of Bulgarian production – the Russian Federation and the countries of the Middle East.
It is time for Bulgaria to have a government that promises to move our country from last place in terms of development. I am convinced that such an open and patriotic line in the politics of the BSP will melt the distrust of a large part of our members and like-minded people in the values that the BSP stands for.
In this plan, the BSP could work more actively to realize a new peaceful path in the relations between Bulgaria and Russia. Is it so impermissible for BSP to play the role of a bridge between the Bulgarian and Russian political and business elite and, thanks to established connections, to help regulate the price of imported Russian gas, especially since Bulgaria built the section of the gas pipeline between Turkey and Serbia.
In this report I pose some of the problems, the answer to which will show whether we are a party of change or we are behaving like drowners for the exhausted status quo. Are we capable of penetrating the essence of our national politics from the phase of geopolitics to the most painful dilemmas that we continue to stumble upon.
The upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections will require us to have a high political culture and skills to get the maximum benefits for the BSP from the “2 in 1” vote. The inclusion of Prof. Anastas Gerdzhikov as a candidate nominated by the Initiative Committee and supported by GERB will be a real challenge in the battle for “Dondukov” 2. And we should not underestimate him. We must be prepared for sharp polemics in the campaign and for ideological and political clashes. And to defend left-wing policies. Just like they did in Germany last Sunday. The messages of social, fair and sustainable development are increasingly supported by citizens in Europe. The topics of overcoming inequalities, decent pay for work, social protection for the most vulnerable are gaining strength in the countries of the Old Continent. Modernization and digitization, ecology and environmental protection are all left-wing policies that we must stand for. In Germany, they showed how it is done.
In our country, the elections are approaching. And BSP this time is obliged to present itself in a dignified and upward manner. Because the left-wing idea, the left-wing thinking, the left-wing party are necessary for the rise of modern Bulgaria as well.
September 30, 2021
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