site.btaFront-Runners in 2021 Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections: Movement for Rights and Freedoms

Sofia, March 25 (BTA) -

This is the third piece in a series of backgrounders that BTA's Daily News is running ahead of the April 4 general elections in Bulgaria. The series covers eight parties and coalitions which polls show to be certain or likely, to various degrees, to win seats in the next Parliament: VMRO - Bulgarian National Movement; Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for Bulgaria; Movement for Rights and Freedoms; Democratic Bulgaria; Rise Up! Thugs Out!; Patriotic Coalition - Volya and National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB); GERB-UDF; Ima Takuv Narod [There Is Such a People]. They are arranged according to the number by which they will appear on the ballots.

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

History

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) was established in
Varna on January 4, 1990, riding a backlash against a campaign
for large-scale assimilation of ethnic Turks in the mid-1980s
under the just fallen Communist regime. Another factor was a
December 19, 1989 decision of the Bulgarian Communist Party's
Central Committee to allow Bulgarian Muslims to readopt their
original names. The party's conformity to the new Bulgarian
Constitution of 1991, which forbids the formation of political
parties on an ethnic or religious basis, was challenged before
the Constitutional Court. In 1992 the Court ruled that the MRF
was not unconstitutional, but six of the twelve judges signed
the decision with a dissenting opinion. Particular clauses of
the party's programme clearly show that the MRF originated and
took shape among Turkish-speaking Bulgarian citizens professing
Islam and is championing precisely their rights and freedoms.
 
Both local and foreign analysts see the MRF as an "ethnic party"
 and "a party of the Turkish minority".

Ideology

The party identifies itself as liberal and is affiliated with
the Liberal International. Its MEPs are part of the liberal
pro-European Renew Europe political group in the European
Parliament. However, the focus on protecting the rights of the
individual has been complemented with detailed sector policies
in privatization, industry, agriculture, social policy,
international relations and security, among others.

Platform, Policies, Positions

Pigeonholed as "a centrist liberal democratic party", the MRF's
stance on the challenges of the day is also tinged by its
prolonged limbo in opposition. In 2018, party leader Mustafa
Karadayi spoke of a "values-based accelerated development
programme" as an alternative to the status quo. Three years
later, he again spoke of a programme for the country's
accelerated catching-up economic development, drawn up "4-5
years ago", prioritizing "clean air, clean water, clean food,
clean energy, high technologies, and involving free active
citizens in political processes". According to Karadayi, these
are also the EU's priorities. The MRF's published election
campaign programme, however, is very brief and is formulated in
rather general terms: "accelerated, catching-up, innovative
economic growth", "promoting investments through the State's
active support and participation in the investment process at
all stages in order to speed it up", "addressing the demographic
 crisis by an effective long-term demographic policy", "modern
education including investments in educational infrastructure".
This document could therefore be regarded as a basis for
negotiations on future power sharing. Asked on TV whether he
will seek to enter a coalition after the elections, Karadayi
interrupted the host by saying "Absolutely!"

Support Base Profile

The geography of MRF's support across the country clearly shows
a prevalence in the ethnically mixed regions, and especially in
the areas of Kurdzhali, Razgrad and Turgovishte, while the
party's influence in the capital, for example, is far more
limited. This prompts experts and politicians to refer to
Bulgarian ethnic Turks and Muslims and Bulgarian citizens who
vote in Bulgarian elections in Turkey as the "MRF electorate".
The "MRF electorate" has impressed political experts as very
disciplined, which gives the party leaders reason to reiterate
that the Movement is always ready for elections. The MRF voters
are also among the most immutable and consistent in their
political preferences, enabling the party to rely on a firm body
 of core supporters despite several attempts by breakaways or
expellees to set up alternative entities over the years. These
characteristics have turned the party into a factor to be
reckoned with in the Bulgarian political landscape, since the
MRF's presence in Parliament and positions in local government
are guaranteed in all circumstances. The MRF has thus emerged as
 a systemic political player, given that its election results
are relatively certain and its positions are highly predictable.

Protecting the rights of Bulgarian Turks and Muslims, the MRF
has brought modern Turkey and present-day Turks as a seemingly
"extraneous" subject into the Bulgarian political agenda. The
MRF is associated with a minority that had been systematically
kept out of Bulgarian public life for over a century. This
group's integration into Bulgarian society in parallel with this
 country's Euro-Atlantic integration is crucial for Bulgaria.
The MRF calls this the "Bulgarian ethnic model". While the sense
 behind this expression may be debatable, the MRF has been
fleshing out the term for three decades now. As a result, even
MRF's most fervent critics acknowledge "the Movement's major
political contribution".

Turkish President Erdogan's support, expressed in an address at
MRF's National Conference in December 2020, reinforced the
Movement's identifiability.

Tactics, Ambitions, Goals

The MRF's leadership are well aware of the party's clout and
standing. This enables the Movement to resort to tactics and
approaches that often evoke mixed feelings in observers and the
public.
 
Analysts note that the MRF "have always had a flair and a
strategy for monetizing politics". While incurring public
criticism for its technique of cashing in on political standing,
 the Movement has amplified this technique by a number of
substantial political assets like predictability,
Euro-Atlanticism, expertise, an international prestige and
moderation, which are clearly visible in the party's
parliamentary practices.

The MRF's tactics abound in instances of seeking to leave its
own imprint on policy making. For example, the MRF backed the
Cabinet's anti-crisis measures during the pandemic while
remaining strongly critical of the Government's performance.
When the President sided with the protests against the
Government, the Prosecutor General and corruption last summer,
the MRF called on both the Cabinet and the head of State to
resign. 
 
Personalities

Although he has formally stepped down and holds the position of
"Honorary Chairman", the MRF's veteran leader Ahmed Dogan
remains instrumental in the Movement. From time to time he
issues messages outlining strategic guidelines for the Movement,
 and he is also the architect of some (if not all) of the
party's strategic roles, including to balance between the Left
and the Right, to act as a corrective by withdrawing formal or
informal support for the powerholders, and to exercise a
"casting vote" (e.g. by tipping the balance when presidential
candidates run neck and neck in the second round of voting).
 
Dogan takes credit for strategic pronouncements that have become
 political maxims: "Bulgaria's path to Europe passes through the
 Bosphorus"; "It's me who concentrates power, not your members
of Parliament. I am the instrument in power who shares out the
portions of financing in the State". He once referred to "a
circle of companies" as a source of financing the MRF, just as
all other political parties.

Delyan Peevski is another prominent figure in the Movement. He
is a MRF member of the outgoing Parliament but has not been seen
 at a single plenary sitting and is conspicuously absent from
the party's candidate lists for the 2021 elections. Critics (he
has many) have described him as "the most notorious embodiment"
of widespread corruption and collusion between media,
politicians and oligarchs in Bulgaria.

Campaign Messages

The MRF's campaign motto for these elections, "Restart
Statehood", is too vague and spells out criticism rather than a
solution. The tactical construct through which the MRF could
regain power is far more specific. The party pushed this
construct last year during the large-scale street protests by
proposing an expert cabinet. The MRF's leadership has
interpreted this as "a matter that we will be revisiting". The
idea is to rally behind a development programme "binding on
everybody in a position to govern after the elections" as an
alternative to a party or coalition cabinet. RY/MY, LG