site.btaSocialists Set on Preventing Return of "GERB Model"

GERB is beyond the red line for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), according to BSP leader Kornelia Ninova. "It is not a coincidence that we have been dedicated to fighting the GERB model over the last 10 years, and we are its only alternative. It is the evil for Bulgaria, which we should keep from returning," Ninova told Nova News television on Saturday evening, as quoted in a press release by the BSP for Bulgaria coalition.

GERB has dominated the Bulgarian political landscape most of the time since 2009. Months-long street protests in 2020 against the third GERB government of prime minister Boyko Borissov led to the emergence of an anti-status-quo (anti-GERB) coalition called Continue the Change (CC), which formed a government in December 2021 after two snap parliamentary elections. That government, headed by CC co-leader Kiril Petkov, lasted eight months. After two more snap elections, ironically, CC partnered with its arch opponent GERB in the latest regular government between June 2023 and April 2024.

Ninova told Nova News that a government of GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, with Boyko Borissov as prime minister, is the worst-case scenario for Bulgaria. It would prolong the instability of the last three years, she warned. "We want a stable regular government after so many elections were held recently, [causing a] political crisis and instability in Bulgaria. We envision that the next government could be an expert, supra-party, programmatic government with very clear tasks to perform under Parliament's oversight," the Socialist leader said.

She urged the National Assembly (Parliament) to pass a definitive resolution against sending troops to Ukraine and against using Western weapons on targets in Russia.

Ninova called for a tax reform. Young people aged 26 and under should be exempt from personal income tax. Setting a tax threshold equalling the poverty line is another measure proposed by the BSP. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have suggested that the flat tax should be abandoned, Ninova noted. "Gradually, after a very broad discussion, we should set a tax rate system for a future progressive tax," she added.

The BSP policies on children and young people are focused on dealing with the population collapse. "We propose giving 10 minimum monthly wages for a newborn baby and seven wages for a second and third child. We want to pursue this policy to keep young people in Bulgaria," Ninova said.

The BSP proposes raising the minimum monthly wage to BGN 1,100 next year. Ninova said that setting the minimum wage at 50% of the average wage is a European policy which was adopted in Bulgaria at the Socialists' proposal.

She spoke in favour of carrying on with the Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) project while also developing the Kozloduy NPP further. "The European Commission has declared nuclear energy as green energy," she argued. She said the decision of the latest regular government to abandon the Belene project and sell the available equipment to Ukraine is detrimental to the Bulgarian economy and the country's energy sector. Ninova described the closure of coal-fired power plants as an absolute mistake. "Germany is reopening its coal-fired power plants, we are urged to close ours," she observed.