site.btaGERB Sets Out to Win One Million-plus Votes in Early Elections

GERB Sets Out to Win One Million-plus Votes in Early Elections

Sofia, January 22 (BTA) - Addressing GERB's national working meeting on Sunday, the party's deputy leader and head of the campaign headquarters, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said GERB should win at least one million votes at the early parliamentary elections this spring. He called for a different approach to the election campaign, with an emphasis on the sectoral policies important for each region.

The meeting was attended by GERB's mayors of municipalities, representatives of regional chapters and MPs.

Tsvetanov analysed the November presidential elections, in which GERB's candidate, National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva, lost the race to Rumen Radev who polled 59.37 per cent of all votes. Tsvetanov said the campaign started on a positive note, but its motto was announced before GERB's candidate was nominated, which he said was probably a bad move. Still, Tsacheva won about 840,000 votes from the core electorate in the first round. About 65 per cent of GERB's members and sympathizers backed the presidential ticket at the start, polls showed. Tsvetanov also said the party failed to explain the government's decision to replace Irina Bokova with Kristalina Georgieva as Bulgaria's nominee for the UN top job.

An online poll among GERB members showed that the Reformist Bloc is the partner preferred by 62 per cent of respondents, followed by the United Patriots with 46 per cent, Vesselin Mareshki's future party 45 per cent, as well as Yes Bulgaria and the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria.

GERB members are firmly opposed to cooperation with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

The poll showed that the party members set a high priority on better health care, justice, education, living standards, public order and security.

Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borissov ruled out any coalition involving GERB, saying that both left- and right-wing parties are "10 years behind us, we have gained experience". He argued that in a coalition, GERB reaps all the drawbacks, while its partners reap all the benefits.

"Bulgaria is increasingly becoming a better place to live, its GDP is growing, savings are increasing and millions of Bulgarians spend holidays abroad, in Greece," he said. He told the activists the number one task was to convince people that everything GERB does and wants to do is first and foremost for the people's benefit.

He criticized the party's local chapters for distancing themselves from the public. People have complained to Borissov that they can contact him on the telephone or on Facebook, but are finding local GERB leaders hard to contact.

He dismissed as a lie the Socialist Party's allegations that Brussels is going to suspend EU funding for Bulgaria, and said that on Monday he would ask the European Commission which programme would be left without EU money.

He said the Socialist Party also spread the lie that motorways in Bulgaria were being built at inflated prices.

Borissov warned the activists that from that moment on they should not expect political tolerance from their opponents. In the context of the forthcoming election campaign, the best policy is to parry each false allegation at a news conference.

He said his worst fears were about the unity of the EU because if Germany, Italy or France exited the EU, Bulgaria might be left without EU financing, which has saved it many times.