For more than a month, GERB and PP-DB have been stalking and lying to each other because of the rotation of the government. The stake is high – the rightists want everything to be limited to an exchange of seats between Nikolay Denkov and Maria Gabriel; however, the Gerbers are eyeing almost half of the ministerial posts from which they want to kick the current incumbents. And let’s not forget the burning question about the coalition – will the two political forces sign an official agreement or will they continue to play with nonsense like “assembly”.
The trickery is also evident in the way PP-DB and GERB submitted their proposals for their new contract. The rightists published a memorandum – a “detailed memorial note”, as Denkov later defined it, in which they listed several priority reforms, as well as some basic rules for interacting with Boyko Borisov’s party. The Gerbers countered with a draft co-governance agreement that put more emphasis on their permanent alliance with the city’s right for the next 3 years.
There are several significant differences between the two proposals:
the rotation – PP-DB prefers to continue every 9 months, and GERB insists on doing it every 15 months (after Gabriel has completed her 9 months); the control over foreign policy – the right-wing want a rotation of line ministers, while the Gerbers demand that diplomacy remain only their line; the regulators – according to the PP-DB should be chosen through a special procedure in the parliamentary rules, while the GERB believes that the relevant special laws should be observed; the floating majorities – the rightists want their ban, but according to Borisov’s people, the votes of Euro-Atlantic parties (understand, DPS) should be relied upon; the special services and the fight against corruption – PP-DB demands that the new anti-corruption commission be filled immediately and presents a detailed plan for changes in the security services, while GERB brushes these issues aside.
All this is important, there is no dispute about it, and it should be decided and recorded in a public document.
However, two points are key for the future of the assembly –
first, which people will remain in government and which will be kicked out; secondly, will DPS be pushed out of the assembly or will it formally participate in it. The political balance in the government in the future will depend on what the right and the Gerbers will agree on these issues.
At their national conference, where they presented the draft agreement, Borissov and his entourage clearly showed where they were leaning on both topics. First of all, the Gerber chief erupted furiously against a group of ministers, even the co-chairman of PP-DB and finance minister Asen Vasilev fell into his crosshairs. The latter has long been a thorn in the side of gerberas. From the very beginning of their joint government, they talked – sometimes quietly, sometimes openly, that Vassilev was the strong man in the cabinet, who actually commanded it. But otherwise their attitude towards him followed their attitude towards the PP-DB – when things were good, they even defended him (Boyko Borisov and the head of the DPS Delyan Peevski sided with him in the “Chatalja” scandal); when things went badly, then they scolded him for selling Bulgaria to the Russian giant Lukoil.
However, now the situation has changed to Vassilev’s detriment.
Borisov practically said that there cannot be a successful cabinet with the finance minister. “If you accept to be prime minister with this finance minister, they will fail you in a few months,” he publicly addressed Maria Gabriel. Thus, at least according to the Gerber leader, Vassilev’s days as a minister are numbered. And his expulsion from the executive power will lead to the mass dismissal of PP staff, including from the revenue agencies – the National Revenue Agency and customs, which Borisov, in a rage, explained that they were taken over by Vassilev’s party.
In fact, he directly accused the PP of usurping all power, making it clear that he wanted to push the party out of whatever positions it had. And maybe even split her – against Vasilev Borisov he raged, but with his partner Kiril Petkov he was extremely soft and almost flattering. And one more interesting detail – Borisov called on the DB to pay attention to all the power that the PP has at its disposal. Here he drives another wedge into the right – this time between PP and DB, who don’t really like each other anyway. The plan seems obvious – to weaken the right-wing coalition and make it a more manageable ally.
In this plan, however, the more essential role is played by the DPS.
In a not particularly clear way, the movement became part of the ruling majority in mid-2023. Thanks to its votes, changes to the Constitution became possible. And not only that – the name of Delyan Peevski appeared so often as the introducer of laws and decisions, along with the leaders of PP-DB and GERB, that he seemed to be a participant in the administration. And he behaved as such – he supervised Denkov as if the prime minister was obliged to report to him personally.
This behavior was not accidental. Peevski wanted to be recognized as part of this government, whether he had ministers or not. Borisov wanted the same, who in practice created a common faction with Peevski. The right-wingers felt it and therefore insist that it be written in their future contract with GERB that floating majorities are prohibited. The aim is to end the movement’s current role as the unrecognized third party in governance.
For exactly the same reason, the Gerbers insist that the DPS remain part of the majority. Thus, the balance in governance will inevitably tilt in favor of the faction of Borisov and Peevski, and to the detriment of PP-DB. Moreover, in Gerber’s draft agreement, the partnership with DPS is presented as something inevitable. It lists the bodies that cannot be elected without the votes of the movement, including the new High Judicial Council and High Prosecutorial Council (which will choose the next chief prosecutor), as well as the judicial inspectorate. So Borisov is practically saying to the right-wing – if you want judicial reform, you must accept the DPS, otherwise nothing will happen.
Here PP-DB face a trap,
which doesn’t seem like they can avoid. They put justice reform at the center of the entire administration. And a key part of this reform is the replacement of the leadership of the judiciary. However, this cannot happen without the votes of DPS. And the faction of Borisov and Peevski demands that the importance of DPS for management be officially recognized. If this happens, then the balance of power will be disturbed, and PP-DB will find themselves in a subordinate role to their cunning partners.
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2024-03-08 14:27:01
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