site.bta Democrats for Strong Bulgaria Leader Kanev: New Rightist Project Has Nothing to Do with Reformist Bloc

Democrats for Strong Bulgaria Leader Kanev: New Rightist Project Has Nothing to Do with Reformist Bloc

Sofia, January 23 (BTA) - Emerging from a national meeting of the right-wing Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) on Saturday, DSB leader Radan Kanev said that the new rightist project he starts to create "has nothing to do with the Reformist Bloc (RB) political coalition which failed to become a unified rightist entity". "Party jealousy, rivalry and party egoism increased, instead of having diminished, in the two years of existence of the RB. Whether the RB coalition will survive in Parliament and in the municipal councils is one question, while whether Bulgaria will have a strong and unified right is a totally different matter," Kanev said.

Kanev said that this new project does not mean "closing the DSB, but on the contrary, the DSB will be the strong foundation without which it is impossible to build a modern rightist project".

According to the DSB leader, the rightist project should not be solely focused on the judicial reform but should also "cut the spiral corruption-vote buying-corruption" which he said siphons 30 per cent of Bulgaria's national wealth.

Kanev analysed DSB's performance in the October 2015 local elections, saying that overall, the party's structures are not ready for running in elections on their own, nor for becoming the foundation of a broader rightist project. This is why he said he is going to suggest amendments to DSB's statutes to be discussed at the party's forum in March. The aim of these amendments will be to enable the party to spearhead the process of creating a new rightist project.

Dwelling on the presidential elections due to be held later in the year, Kanev said that it is too early for DSB to comment a possible presidential runner. In Kanev's words, "the President should be a clear alternative to the governance of GERB, the Movement of Rights and Freedoms, and the ABV formation, and a person who does not hesitate to use the right of presidential veto".