site.btaHow the Local Elections Rearranged the Political Chessboard

BTA asked Atanas Radev, honorary member of the Political Science Student Club at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and Svetlin Tachev, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and researcher at Gallup International Balkan for a comment on October’s local elections.

Atanas Radev: The local elections rearranged the chessboard in politics to a great extent, and the coalition is in check, because it is clear that in the regional cities GERB has its declines in terms of candidates for mayors and municipal councillors. Their representation, however, remains significant against the backdrop of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), although they themselves also have mayors, have taken the flags of Sofia and Varna, and will have the opportunity within the four-year term to turn them into their emblems or rather to be attacked on the basis that they govern specific cities. A key element is that when the election of the chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council (SMC) starts, the situation is repeated like a deja vu of the 48th and 49th National Assemblies and this shows an absence of elementary agreement on the work of SMC, because the same politicisation and pluralisation of relations is observed in the local parliament. This is worrying for the functioning of SMC and the local communities, but it creates rather favourable opportunities for reaching consensus in the local government with the national government and Parliament, which guarantees the sustainability of decisions, rather than just someone having dominance in a given municipal council and determining what the rules, order and priorities are, which limits representation.

Svetlin Tachev: There is a normalization of the situation because the results of the local elections are satisfactory both for CC-DB and for GERB-UDF. If the results were different, then it would be possible to expect turmoil at the national level. That is why the government seems rather stable for now. On the one hand, it is clear to everyone that another government is impossible at this stage, and on the other - it is beneficial for everyone. Cabinet is supported by mutual benefit. GERB leader Boyko Borissov has the opportunity to use the negatives that have been piling up on CC-DB’s tab since the very beginning of the government and turn them against them. In this case for him the slow lane is the better option because the longer the government stands, the more negatives are heaped on it, and the more CC-DB will erode. On the other hand, they will take advantage of every success of this government and attribute it to everyone. 

For CC-DB, on the other hand, it is very important for the government to exist so that the changes in the Constitution and the judicial reform can be made. They have to show that they have done something because the Constitution became the cornerstone for the creation of this Cabinet and if the changes in the Constitution are not accepted, there is no way CC-DB can explain to their voters why they made this government. And of course, They don’t want to give power again to President Rumen Radev.

MRF has always dreamed of such a government, in which they can manoeuvre and at the same time not be personally responsible. The same is currently true for Borissov.