/ world today news/ Artistic and political self-activity reigns in GERB, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has neglected structural preparation.
If there is a good will, we can see some changes in the way GERB is managed in these 100 days of the “Borisov-3” office. But 100 days is still too little – during this time a new majority, a new team is constituted – it is still too early to draw any conclusions or determine trends. Everything will become clear in the political autumn.
The truth is that the work of “Cabinet – 3” started quite slowly – somehow without zest, without energy, without ideas and significant causes. This is also evident in the long passivity for legislative initiatives, which did not prevent the madness of the majority representatives from pouring out towards the end of the parliamentary session. But overall there was nothing defining. The only impressive thing is Boyko Borisov’s slightly greater activity in the international arena, but this is explainable – everything that happened in the EU after Brexit and the looming new challenges for the EU can be explained by the upcoming presidency of Bulgaria. One can note Boyko Borisov’s attempt to include Bulgaria again in some cross-border energy projects, his attempt to revive the hub in Varna. Most of all, the relatively good and skilful play by the Bulgarian side of the new development of relations with Macedonia stands out. Although the active party there is Macedonia itself, it is really interested, since its survival is at stake.
So on the domestic front – nothing new. Pretty unconvincing, pretty bland. Still, it’s good that there was no God knows what kind of aggression, settling scores or politicking. With all this seeming calmness and casual attitude, unfortunately there are signs that various clientelistic networks and lobby groups have been set in motion. This is especially evident in the finale of the parliamentary season, when insane legislative decisions passed through the committees of the National Assembly. It is as if there is no elementary control over the parliamentary groups and their law-making activity. So chaos, chaos, chaos. Both in relations with employers and in relations with trade unions, only mixed signals. Not that it’s anything very unusual, very extraordinary, but it’s still not a very inspiring start.
I don’t know whether to attribute the current policy unequivocally to Boyko Borisov. He sort of devoted himself to the geopolitical dimensions of things before he got into space. He has neglected the structural training in his group – there reigns some artistic and political self-activity, there are also new talents from the Patriotic Front. So, in general, the truth will begin to emerge in the political autumn. Then serious things like the budget will be looked at, we will also enter the European field of performances. I hope that by the end of the year at the latest, we will get a clearer picture of the true capacity of this government – whether it is there or not.
It is clear that it is not normal for a government to first come to power and then present a program. But with GERD, this has always been a problem. In our country, after all, we have some 15 years of democratic policy-making style and we know how to do it. Management policies are made by party headquarters. This was done at “Rakovski” 134, at “Positano” 20. At GERB, there is no such space of workplaces where someone can work on party management platforms. In an election campaign, there are some preparations – quite fragmentary and frivolous. After that, the government, more precisely the cabinets, and even representatives of the administration, who are often not connected with GERB, begin to develop some rudiments of management policies. This is usually inconsistent, not particularly well thought out, and there is no political responsibility behind it from the party that governs. Things start to break and often fall apart. This is not good style. GERB, although it did not turn out to be a short-term project, is yet to become a party – a machine for making policies, not for power, staffing, clientelism, lobbying, etc.
When a prime minister deals with a simple restaurateur, it means that he is not really the prime minister of a significant country. How do you imagine Chancellor Merkel, or in France, even in the Netherlands, anyone dealing with this? This means that we are something very small, oriental, Balkan, non-European. It is not just the problem of the Prime Minister’s working style. I don’t see any riots or criticism, neither from the media nor from the opposition. So all this is now accepted as the norm. I can’t imagine that such a thing existed even in the 90s in our country. It is a descent into political bitism, where political, personal, clientelistic, emotional, irrational and all sorts of other relationships are equal in the making of politics.
As for Bulgaria’s presidency, I want to emphasize that it is not something historical for our country. This is just some type of presentation of our country. In this period, Bulgaria will be represented, it will be present more often in the EU, and this forms the image of the country, which then returns to us in a different form – of tourist interest, of Bulgarians abroad, and sometimes of investment interest. We have to play this role as well – it is not so difficult, it has been played by others in the EU.
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Zhivko Georgiev, sociologist.
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