site.btaVolya Party Signs Partnership Agreement with Bulgarian Social Democratic Party

Sofia, November 19 (BTA) - Volya Party leader Vesselin Mareshki and Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (BSDP) Chairman Yordan Nihrizov signed a partnership agreement here on Sunday, Volya said in a press release. The document highlights the reasons for the "deeply divided and antagonistic Bulgarian society" and outlines the steps towards "the right direction in the future".

With 11 MPs, Volya has the smallest parliamentary group in the incumbent National Assembly. The BSDP has not been represented in Parliament since 2013.

"Twenty-eight years after the beginning of the transition to civil society and market economy, we are witnessing a crumbling of trust in all institutions, an ineffective judiciary and violation of laws with impunity, a collapse of the health and education systems, a demographic catastrophe, uncontrollable conventional crime, 42 per cent working poor, an oligarchic governance without democratic landmarks, apathy and illiteracy," the preamble to the agreement states.

The two pro-European-oriented and nationally responsible parties set the following priorities in their agreement: asserting democratic freedoms and social responsibility, improving living standards and national self-confidence, assisting the institution building of State bodies, a radical and effective reform of the administration of justice and the judicial system, laying down rules for the elimination of corruption, support for domestic production, arranging affordable and high-quality healthcare, upgrading education and culture to the status of elements of national security, and establishing Bulgaria's international prestige.

"We are embarking on our road to Right unity. Since the time of [Union of Democratic Forces leader (1994-2001) Ivan] Kostov, the Right has lacked a real leader and, as a result, hundreds of thousands of voters have been deprived of parliamentary representation. Volya is the natural rallying point for the Right. We are confident that neither a populist race nor the search for new enemies can help us out of the present situation. Volya is the natural alternative to the vicious status quo, and we will stand our ground," Mareshki commented.

His party sees the agreement as a first step towards consolidation of the fragmented Right part of the political spectrum.