site.btaSocialist Party's 49th Congress in Session in Sofia

Socialist Party's 49th Congress in Session in Sofia

Sofia, February 4 (BTA) - "Now change is a must," Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Chair Kornelia Ninova said, addressing a two-day session of the party's 49th Congress which opened at Sofia's National Palace of Culture on Saturday.

Ninova noted that the BSP ushered in the change in Bulgaria with the election of Rumen Radev and Iliana Iotova as President and Vice President of the Republic.

According to research done by the BSP, Bulgarians' informal out-of-pocket costs, not counting taxes, social and health insurance contributions and fees, add up to 10,000 million leva annually: 2,000 million leva-plus on health, over 3,000 million leva on prices inflated by cartels and monopolies, more than 1,000 million leva in bribes for administrative services, and 2,000 million leva on manipulated public procurement contracts, Ninova said, describing this as "financing a parallel State". "We will shut down this parallel State. We will lay the foundations of another State, which has its role in the economy," she stressed.

The Socialist leader said that her party proposes a national plan for the development of Bulgaria, unlike their opponents of GERB, who push "the GERB doctrine, the Borissov doctrine".

Ninova argued that the Socialists' proposals are not populist. "Money is available, as long as it is spent sensibly and is not stolen," she said. That is why the BSP propose a change in the way public financial resources are budgeted. In her words, "GERB have so far deliberately planned less budget revenues than expected to be collected and, accordingly, less expenditures. This has resulted in 'political bragging' about a job well done, and the excess has been spent at the sole and absolute discretion of a single person." "We will be drawing up realistic budgets," she promised.

Ninova proposed to the delegates to approve the BSP's entry in the parliamentary elections as part of a coalition under a new name: "BSP for Bulgaria". "We propose to form a coalition with fewer parties for the elections and to conclude bilateral agreements with other parties and citizens associations outside the coalition in search of broader support," the Socialist leader said.

She noted that the structure and composition of the coalition that existed so far does not allow any further expansion of voter support for the party. Ninova said that the BSP will not coalesce and cooperate with xenophobic, extremist and populist parties.

Party of European Socialists (PES) President Sergei Stanishev called on the BSP Congress to declare the party's readiness to take over the reins of the country's government and to pick Kornelia Ninova for prime minister. Stanishev declared PES's strong support for the BSP and the Bulgarian Socialists' cause.

The PES President pointed out that Ninova, taking a great personal risk, led the BSP to a major victory in the presidential elections last year.

"We can't outdo GERB in populism, we can't outdo the [United] Patriots in nationalism, we are a social party," Stanishev said.

The session of the BSP Congress will continue on Sunday.