site.btaBulgarian Socialist Party Holds 49th Congress

Sofia, October 28 (BTA) - The 49th congress of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) on Saturday was marked by sharp confrontation between leader Kornelia Ninova's supporters and the intraparty opposition.

A delegate proposal at the very start of the forum that the Statute be amended so as to have the leader elected by a congress. The motion was defeated by a vote of 149-397, with 45 abstentions. The previous congress decided on a direct election of the leader by grassroots members.

Ninova's Report

The leader delivered a report entitled "BSP: An Alternative for Bulgaria". She told her opponents in the party: "You want to change the party's course and this involves changing the leader. This is happening now because, contrary to the existing model, we refused to be an opposition enticed with posts and tamed by Boyko Borissov."

Ninova said the topic of the congress had been replaced by the idea of a vote of confidence in the leader, and argued that she would not have called a congress only to keep her post. She affirmed that she has "a great ambition for the BSP to change Bulgaria". "I can give you self-confidence that we can run Bulgaria better," she said. She stated she would not work towards unity centred around personal goals such as gaining benefits, posts, power, money and behind-the-scenes clout.

Ninova said that those who claimed that inconvenient people were being kept away were delegates to the congress, members of the National Council and aides to the parliamentary group and the MPs. There is one thing they are not: MPs. She also noted that in four months the BSP for Bulgaria introduced 24 bills in Parliament, the MPs asked 507 questions, issued 33 declarations and spoke for 60 hours in plenary.

Call for a Vote of No Confidence in Borissov's Cabinet

Ninova asked the congress for a mandate for talks with the other parliamentary forces about a motion of no confidence in Boyko Borissov's cabinet. She argued for early elections and ousting GERB from power through a vote of no confidence. "We must offer a left-wing alternative to GERB's right-wing policies. But we already have a loftier goal: to free the State and the nation of the shackles one party has used for its proliferation."

"GERB is the emanation of a model resulting from the political errors of all parties which ran the country during the transition period," said Ninova. Bulgaria is going through a demographic catastrophe, the inequalities are growing, the gap between the richest and the poorest is widening, and Bulgaria has the worst corruption record in the EU, in her view.

A new, modern slavery is being put in place by GERB, which has usurped the State, according to Ninova. This model is supported by business entities and the administration. Eliminating the opposition is part of this, and if it refuses to be enticed and fed, it will be busted and effaced.

The BSP provides an alternative, said Ninova. The BSP should take the debate on budget policy outside Parliament to seek public support. She stated that drafting an alternative budget was the BSP's strongest claim on a future government.

Priorities of Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency

Ninova argued that although Borissov had agreed that the priorities of Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2018 should be formulated after a discussion in Parliament, this had not happened. The government focused on technical preparations, not on policies.

Addressing the delegates, Party of European Socialists (PES) President Sergei Stanishev said GERB missed the chance to turn Bulgaria's stint at the EU Presidency into a national effort which would generate unity and national consensus. "One is left with the impression that it is important to scape through the EU Presidency so as not to disgrace ourselves," he said.

Stanishev presented the BSP's political vision for Europe in ten priorities: development of the European social model; Bulgaria's entry in the Schengen area; financial stability and a roadmap for Bulgaria entry in the Euro zone; equal participation in European defence and security; the Multiannual Financial Framework - keeping Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy as principles of financing, a European perspective for the Western Balkans; the Black Sea and the Danube - a region of security and cooperation.

He described the present as a historic moment for Europe when a change in the functioning of the EU is under discussion. Bulgaria will assume the rotating EU Presidency in a complex political context, ahead of the EU Parliament elections in 2019. Stanishev said the Bulgarian Prime Minister should have presented a vision for Europe and political priorities of the country's EU Presidency. Instead, the cabinet focused on repairs, transport and hotel refurbishment amid numerous scandals. "There was no substantive discussion of the EU Presidency," the PES President said.

Stanishev said it was the BSP's duty to be the driving force of a discussion placing Bulgaria in the core of a united and strong EU. "If left to the power holders, Bulgaria will be relegated to the periphery," he said.

Congress Decisions

The congress nominated Stanishev PES President for a new term.

The delegates adopted the party's political vision for Europe's future and the ten priorities of Bulgaria's EU Council Presidency.

The alternative budget proposal for 2018 was approved, with the tax threshold set at the minimum wage and a progressive income tax for natural persons.

It was decided, by a vote of 381 in favour, with six abstentions, that BSP for Bulgaria is to move for a vote of no confidence in the cabinet on a topic which is closest to "GERB's corruption policy".

Finally, Ninova said the decisions of the congress refuted any doubts that the BSP is not ready to be an alternative to GERB's government, and urged the delegates to tell all party members, sympathizers and society as a whole that the BSP is strong and united.