Cornelia Ninova’s Attempt to Unite Left-Wing Parties Criticized by Solidarity Bulgaria Leader

Cornelia Ninova’s step for a broad integration of the left is to be praised, he said in Kyustendil the head of “Solidary Bulgaria” Vanya Grigorova during the left parties and the movements gathered by the leader of the BSP today.

“But this is done before the coalition is registered with the Central Election Commission. Now the lists have been created, and actions like this can only disappoint left-wing voters ,” said Vanya Grigorova. “All of us on the left are aware of the need to be together, but actions like that, to violently gather people without any practical benefit, certainly disturb the other formations,” said the leader of Solidarna Bulgaria.

“Ninova brought together 26 leftist parties and groups before the last parliamentary elections in the same sham way, and as a result BSP’s percentages fell below nine,” said Manolova, leader of Stand Up Bulgaria. “As long as Ninova is chairman on the big party on the left, and Borisov is the chairman of the big party on the right, there will be no unification on the left or on the right. This is not because of the personal problem, but because of the feelings of the leader and how individual decisions were made,” said Manolova.

The pre-election tour of “Solidary Bulgaria” started today from Kyustendil. It was initiated by the chairman of the coalition Vanya Grigorova, Maya Manolova – the leader of “Stand Up Bulgaria” and the leader of the list for the early parliamentary elections in Kyustendil, Milena Georgieva. The city councilors of “Stand Up Bulgaria”, activists of the group, who celebrated in Kyustendil, on Labor Day, two years since its establishment, took part in the opening of the campaign.

“The protection of 700,000 working poor is important to us, because for us these are people who not only cannot provide themselves with Easter food, but who suffer hardship because of their low wages,” said Maya Manolova. She pointed out that from the minimum wage of BGN 933, these people actually receive BGN 700 “pure money”. “That’s why one of our reasons is the minimum wage to chase the living wage and to fight for the tax-free minimum. Monopolies and the fight against them are another reason. We will ask banks, retail chains, large corporations, telecommunications and energy companies to be taxed for their extra profits to be collected in the “Solidarity” fund, which supports vulnerable groups ,” said Maya Manolova.

“You may remember that employers tried to cancel the first three days of sick leave they cover. We put a stop to that outrage, but this year, with the last state budget, employers were relieved of one of those three days. This is how we allowed maternity to be frozen at the level of BGN 780. This is why the workers’ representatives must be there – in the Parliament, to monitor the deficits that are being prepared for them, on the payment by the lobbyist industry, so that the workers are the ones who pay for every crisis.

Grigorova said that their goal is to stop the draining of the pension and health insurance systems to parasitic structures, “as is happening now”.

The leader of the “Solidary Bulgaria” list was also presented in Kyustendil. Milena Georgieva is a lawyer by profession, 37 years old, with a six-year-old child. Lives and works in Kyustendil. “I am happy to be part of the team of strong women,” said Georgieva.