site.btaFormer Movement for Rights and Freedoms Leader Mestan Vows to Stay in Politics, Reveals No Specific Plans

110 - POLITICS - LYUTVI MESTAN - NEWS CONFERENCE

Former Movement for Rights and Freedoms
Leader Mestan Vows to Stay in Politics,
Reveals No Specific Plans


Sofia, January 7 (BTA) - Speaking to the press Wednesday at what was his first public appearance since he was ousted from the chairmanship of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) a day before Christmas 2015, Lyutvi Mestan said that he is not intimidated by the way he was treated and is determined to remain in politics. He would not answer questions by the press about his specific political plans and said the future depends on ongoing talks with his electorate.

Mestan's ouster followed a pre-Christmas party speech of MRF's honorary chairman and former long-serving leader Ahmed Dogan in which he slammed his successor for working to bring Bulgaria too close to Turkey and for a declaration in behalf of the party in support of Ankara amid the row over the downing of a Russian bomber aircraft by Turkey in November.

Mestan repeated his position that the declaration was not a blunder, was not his personal project, was supported by the whole MRF group but not coordinated with the honorary chairman, Ahmed Dogan, despite the practice of coordinating most important issues with him, in Mestan's own words.

Mestan said that his policy as chairman of MRF was "to try to shed MRF's image as a pro-Russian olygarchic party and put it on a stable position in the field of Euro-Atlantic ideas and values".

"Around Christmas, I stepped on a Russian mine and you know what happened next," said Mestan.

He complained of a smear campaign against himself in some media outlets following his ouster which he called "a ritual political execution on a par with some of the best examples of Stalinism and totalitarianism, without the right to last word".

Mestan was not allowed to attend the meeting of the MRF leadership which made the decision about his dethroning. MORE/