BERLIN – This Sunday, November 14, Bulgaria will vote for the third parliamentary elections early in the year and together for the election by universal suffrage of the head of state. In the background, the fourth wave of Covid, with a low number of people vaccinated and infected and dead to the stars, the small Balkan country of 6.9 million inhabitants, of which three quarters, stirred up by the ordotossa Church and the local no vax, they refuse to be vaccinated, in dire need of governability.
In the upside-down world of Bulgaria No Vax: “Here mistrust wins”
by our correspondent Fabio Tonacci
But so far, from the previous early consultations, held in April and July, no majority or possible coalitions have emerged. This seriously hampered the fight against covid, with emergency measures such as masks, certificate, tests and closed rooms or limits to gatherings, which the provisional caretaker government could only adopt as provisional rules. Now the challenge is between the eternal oligarch Bojko Borissov, of the Gerb party member of the European People’s Party, and two successful entrepreneurs forty years old from Harvard where they were fellow students, Kiril Petkov known as “ohn Travolta” for his physical appearance and his friend and fellow student Asen Vassilev.
“John Travolta “and Asen Vassilev, former members of the provisional government, have founded a new pro-Western and reformist party, called” Let’s continue the change “, and polls indicate that they could at least play the decisive role of kingmakers and possible key partners of In fact, opinion polls give them 16 per cent of the votes, head to head with the Socialist Party (formerly Communist).
What seemed to be the new face until after the July vote, rock star Slavi Trifonov with her party “There is such a people” is collapsing in the polls, from 24 per cent in July to around 11 per cent. Bojko Borissov appears timeless and tenacious as befits a skilled oligarch with excellent contacts in Europe: his Gerb party is at 24 per cent. But no other political force wants to form coalitions with him. A hypothesis of governability advanced by observers is hence a Bulgarian version of the German “traffic light coalition”. That is the party of the two Harvard veterans, the Socialists and at least one of the parties that arose after the anti-corruption protests of last year.
Exhausted hospitals in Bulgaria, where the government hides the crisis
by our correspondent Fabio Tonacci
Petkov and Vassilev promise seriousness and determination, and throw on their popularity both their solid academic background, their reputation as modern entrepreneurs, and the promise to get serious: the first point of their political program after the fight against Covid. is “getting to build a zero corruption Bulgaria”. Every day they say: “We say what we think and we are determined to make it happen”. Not an easy task, after Borissov’s years of power, and given that Bulgaria is the poorest and most corrupt member of the European Union and NATO. The most attentive analysts, such as Andrej Ratcev of the Gallup institute, interviewed on the elections on public television, said in a pessimistic tone: “I cannot imagine and accept that the parties are still so crazy and stupid that they do not want to find agreements or compromises” .
However, the greatest uncertainty reigns over the results, as does participation in the vote. It is not known whether there will be clear indications on Sunday evening after polling stations close or only on Monday. The possible outcome of the presidential elections with universal suffrage is also uncertain. The outgoing president, former air force chief and general fighter pilot Rumen Radev, enjoys esteem and popularity also for his denunciations of the corruption of the “Borissov system” and his appeals to vote for new faces. But in the polls it is just over 47 per cent, that is, under the 50 per cent required in the first round. therefore to have to face in the ballot, two weeks later, the rector of the University of the capital Sofia, independent but candidate of the Gerb of Borissov. The situation is so charged with nervousness that analysts like Dobromir Jivkov of the Institute of Political and Sociological Studies Market Links they affirm “emo that we must prepare for yet another election next year” “.
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