Clashes and attempted coup at the BSP congress. There was an occupation of the tribune, as well as an invasion of the hall and demands for resignations.
The scandals started from the first second. First, Kiril Dobrev was not allowed in the congress hall and complained to the complaints committee. This was followed by demands from the tribune for a change in the agenda and the first point being the removal of the chairman of the party, Cornelia Ninova.
This did not happen, but there were clashes and cries of “Resign” on the sidelines of the congress.
In the shadow of all this, BSP went to elections, adopted a new program and announced – a coalition with GERB – no. An internal referendum will decide who the party will talk to after the vote, and the congress ended with the expulsion of 14 people from the opposition.
The day started with scandals and troubles for BSP. Scandal one: not allowing Kiril Dobrev into the hall. He never got in, but scandal number two ensued. What the agenda should look like and why a number of delegates were not admitted.
“I propose the first point of termination of the chairman’s powers. The Stalinist approach is adopted here – there is no person, there is no problem,” said Petar Vitanov.
“To support, for the first point, termination of the chairman’s powers. Refuse to win this congress so that the BSP can win the elections,” stated Krum Zarkov.
“And please, enough with this issue, if the mandate committee comes up with another decision, it is possible,” noted Borislav Gutsanov.
However, the mandate committee did not allow Dobrev to the hall.
The domestic opposition even occupied the tribune and stormed the doors with shouts. Finally, the chairman of the party also reacted. And she explained why, according to her, it has come to this point – oligarchic dependencies, the long arm of GERB and economic interests.
“This cannot go on like this any longer. Our comrades, who lost the prospect of being a permanent deputy, remained angry and did not forgive us. We freed the party from the oligarchs within it and from the dependencies of economic interests that had grown tentacles in the party. Those who have been on the feeders in GERB for years, in order to break the party from within,” said Kornelia Ninova.
And one more topic that, according to Ninova, makes her uncomfortable – the Istanbul Convention.
“As long as I am chairman, we will not give in to this pressure. By replacing me, do whatever you decide,” Cornelia Ninova added.
Thus ended the one-day congress. At the end, Ninova added that BSP will not form a coalition with GERB, and an internal referendum will decide with whom the party can eventually govern.
Finally, the proposal to prematurely terminate the mandate of BSP chairman Cornelia Ninova was rejected with the votes of 537 delegates against 221 people “for”.
In the last minutes of the congress, because of the clashes, Kiril Dobrev, the head of the delegation to the European Parliament, Petar Vitanov, Ana Pirinska, Atanas Atanasov, Petko Dimitrov, Valeri Zhablyanov were expelled from the BSP. Total – 14 people.
