“Democrats for a strong Bulgaria” is already hotly discussing the place of the chairman, Gen. Atanas Atanasov. As PIK first revealed, he is a candidate for constitutional judge from the parliamentary quota, after which Atanasov himself confirmed this in a television interview before Christmas.
Yordan Ivanov is currently the undisputed new chairman. He was elected as a People’s Representative in the 48th Parliament on October 2, 2022 from the list of “Democratic Bulgaria”. This was a step up to a position in Sofia for the regional governor of Plovdiv in the mandate of the “Petkov” cabinet.
In the 49th Parliament, Yordan Ivanov is quite active, he is one of the few MPs who does not hide from journalists in the party house – he willingly answers journalists’ questions, but so far the media has not shown a marked interest in him. That may soon change.
Ivanov’s ambitions could only be thwarted by MEP Radan Kanev, if he does not get on the list for the Euro vote and has to go home to Sofia.
In fact, the leadership positions of two parties are highly dependent on the elections for the European Parliament, which will be held in Bulgaria on June 9, 2024. Preparations and maneuvers have already begun and do not escape observant political analysts.
Zaritsa Dinkova, Minister of Tourism, left the “Green Movement”, but with the promise to strengthen the positions of her mentors – Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, in the group of the Greens in the EP. She has solid connections in Brussels, carefully built while working as an associate in Radan Kanev’s office. As PIK revealed, Zaritsa Dinkov is close to Petko Petkov, Kiril’s father.
In the “Koltuklieva Show” on PIK TV a year ago, I reported on Hristo Ivanov’s dream to secure a career as an MEP in Brussels. He admitted to the camera that his family lives in the capital of Europe, and his wife really owns her own apartment there, as she had previously said. Hristo Ivanov has reasons to say: I have done my job, you have changes in the Constitution; the judicial reform I promised you has begun. Another issue is the huge resistance to changes in the basic law of the country – from ordinary lawyers and magistrates to the president.
The innovations were also broken by the cult chief prosecutor Nikola Filchev, who in an exclusive interview for PIK, ironically congratulated the company “Boikikev and Secretaries” on its success. By all accounts, it seems that next summer Hristo Ivanov will pack his bags for Brussels to be with Yordanka and the children, and the vacant position of leader of “Yes, Bulgaria” will be taken by Ivaylo Mirchev.
He managed for the time since the summer of 2020, when he played the role of Hristo Ivanov’s personal cameraman, so far – to position himself as the most serious and active figure in the party; he even lost weight by something like 30 kilograms and the comparison “the new Shishi” naturally dropped. Ivaylo Mirchev has a successful business in the IT industry, he has not been involved in major lobbying or corruption scandals.
Nadezhda Yordanov, barely recovering from her dubious tenure as Minister of Justice, crushed by the irony of then-Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev, could not successfully contest the top spot in Ivaylo Mirchev’s party.
Probably not by chance, on the eve of Christmas, he uploaded to his Facebook profile a report and a vision for the future as a hint of his abilities to lead “Yes, Bulgaria”.
The European elections will intensify the tension between PP and DB, which will escalate when the leader and the second in the list are determined. From the DB they will want Hristo Ivanov to stand at the head, from the PP they will insist on Daniel Laurer. Daniel and Violeta Laurer built their business careers in Brussels. No wonder that in May it comes to a division of the lists. Which is quite risky because the electoral barrier for the European vote is 5.6%.
If the PPDB collapses on June 9, 2024, it becomes very likely that Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski will call for early parliamentary elections in order to crush even more the DS (good forces), which did their job in many ways in the 49th parliament. Moreover, there will no longer be official offices directly appointed by President Radev, which until now have disturbed GERB and DPS.
The path to much greater power, without being shared with the PPDB, will be discovered and paved.
Sonya Koltuklieva
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2023-12-26 15:58:15
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