/ world today news/ – Stanishev on the dilemma in the party: it is everyone’s responsibility whether we save the leader or BSP.
– The left was not the most desired partner in the coalition, but in order to survive it must defend social policies
“I am worried about the state of our party. The question is now what are the self-preservation instincts of the BSP. We are faced with a difficult choice whether to save the leader or the BSP. If someone does not understand how serious the challenges and dangers facing the left are, they do not understand the responsibility to this 130-year-old party. The risk is that it will fall into the category of minor parties, because in Cornelia Ninova’s report I did not hear a real, frank, serious analysis of how we lost nearly 700,000 voters in four years. Yes, the pandemic, machine voting, etc. were mentioned, but this did not prevent the rise of other political entities,” said the leader of the PES and Bulgarian MEP in the program “Politically INCORRECT” on BNR.
“The real answer for the results of the last year is that the BSP failed to be perceived as a clear and categorical opposition, and also as an alternative to the status quo. We are now in government and this is nice for a party, but it does not guarantee that we are able with 10% of the votes and 26 MPs to form the main directions of the government’s policy. It does not guarantee that there will be an increase in trust in the BSP – we already have a problem not with the periphery, but with the core of the party.
Every delegate must realize his responsibility not only to his own career, but to our party in the long run. The government was formed rather hastily under the pressure of circumstances and the BSP is not the most desirable partner. The other three parties in the cabinet have much closer relations and positions than with the BSP. I am alarmed that in the so-called negotiations, which started transparently, all the key and sensitive issues were pushed over time to working groups. This means that it is likely that they will not be solved at all. An example is BSP’s insistence that hospitals are not commercial companies, as well as the future of nuclear energy. Here, there are no clear commitments and direction in the coalition agreement, and the positions of some of the parties in the government are radically different from those of the BSP.
People are tired of the election marathon in the past year, but if the resignation of the chairman of the BSP is not confirmed, we will look grotesque in the eyes of those 700 thousand voters who did not choose the BSP. It’s like we’re telling them, “We live in our own world and your rating doesn’t matter.” Such a disconnect with reality pays dearly in the long run.”
Regarding the upcoming direct election for the chairman of the BSP, Stanishev commented:
“I have no particular illusions about this choice. I don’t think the attitude is to create conditions for fair competition. We saw how the process was arranged in 2020. This format places the chairman above all party bodies and creates conditions for chieftaincy. We are not GERD, we were not GERD, but we are heading towards this model. Formally, direct election is the most democratic form, but not when there is no fair competition of ideas, and everyone who thinks differently is branded with different labels. Today, members of the BSP exchange remarks such as “traitor” – this is not the way to talk in a party where the traditional address is “comrade”, this is hypocrisy.
I speak to many delegates today at the Congress – spirits are not particularly high, a third of delegates did not come at all – indicative of the level of demotivation among BSP members.
After one of the elections we lost last year, the reaction from the leadership was “we lost, but we’re moving forward.” I think we need to stop and think about where we are going, otherwise we may end up going down. After falling to the position of the third political force, we thought it could not go any lower. Well, it turns out it can.
Bulgaria needs a strong left-wing party that is European. This line, which dominated in recent years, the patriotic approach, the anti-European rhetoric helped other political entities, not the BSP. The identity of every left-wing party, regardless of eras, is social, human rights in all their aspects, the dignity of every person.
We will see to what extent social policies will be implemented. The main social topics are talked about by “Continuing the change”, the finance minister “hands out” the money for social payments. The role of the BSP is not evident on these topics. In a coalition government, the leading party always robs the positives, and the smaller ones most often – the negatives. And BSP’s experience shows it – we “pay the bill”. Therefore, we must carefully, clearly and categorically defend our vision if we want our participation to bring any benefit to the state.”
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