Photo: archive, BGNES
“Liberals in Bulgaria, especially now, when they see themselves with one chest ahead, can make their eternal mistake – to suggest to themselves that they are more than what society would bear. Bulgarian society is not liberal in its majority and is not pro-Western in their majorities, for better or for worse. And to decide that now is your moment, to push your agenda — impeachment, remove the monument, that’s a mistake and it could cost them the election.” This opinion was expressed to BNR by Parvan Simeonov, executive director of Gallup International Balkan.
He thinks that the Soviet Army Memorial is “a very clever way for the GERBs to let the DB and PP down the slide” because it is “vital for them to take the anti-GERD supplement, for them to vote people who are not blue “.
“If instead of the status quo agenda – change, you impose the east-west agenda, which is currently nerve-wracking because of the war, then this anti-GERD supplement will recognize you, it will not recognize you, because a large part of it is not pro-Western at all . Large, serious sections of Bulgarian society are not pro-Western. If GERB pours oil on the fire and you raise the table and say – come on, let’s remove the monument, then first GERB talk about themselves as pro-Western, which is their fixed idea in these elections, secondly – they let you down the rink. Who loses from that?” said Parvanov.
“When it becomes such a scale between two formations, when it becomes such a campaign for two, black and white, at one point you prefer not to show yourself very much from the bushes, because if you show yourself, you become an easy target”, commented Simeonov.
According to him, an analogy can be made with the GERB – BSP campaign from 2017, “with the bright polarization”, when, in his words, many people were afraid that the BSP could win and voted for GERB, while others, on the contrary, voted with anti- GERD supplement.
“Usually, in the end, there is no photo finish. The people, when they see the scales, come out and tilt it in one direction, solve the riddle,” said the political scientist.
“In recent years, the liberal bloc had a rush at the last moment. Now, the conservative bloc has its paper ballot and will rely on it,” Simeonov also noted.
“What is happening with the BSP is not the best. There are almost obvious processes there. The BSP lately are specialists in survival. They can count on an important role after the elections. It may turn out that the BSP is the very dispatcher who can decide the management format”, believes Simeonov.
Always in a two-horse situation, someone tries to play the third horse, and “Revival” are in an extremely good environment at the moment, including with all the plot that will be offered around the war, the Monument to the Soviet Army, etc., emphasized in Parvan Simeonov his analysis.
“It is not good for the society that such plots are inflamed, but I am sure that the main speakers of these plots will propose it once again in such a way as to actually achieve the opposite effect and consolidate the opposite camp. For as long as I can remember, they have been removing the Monument to the Soviet army. I have a certain problem with the one-sidedness of the interpretations around this monument, as well as around the monument to the American airmen in Sofia. There should be many more nuances. I also have a personal problem with this battle with monuments,” said Simeonov.
