site.btaMedia Review: July 30

Third Government-forming Mandate

There Is Such a People received the third government-forming mandate from President Radev on Monday and started talks with other parliamentary groups a day later. The topic dominates the media on Tuesday.

Trud writes that the chance of a government formed with the exploratory mandate of There Is Such a People is minimal, but not zero. Political analysts argue that there are significant external and internal political factors that are firmly behind the formation of a legitimate government that would guarantee stability.

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Duma's lead story says that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is ready to hold talks to TISP for the third government-forming mandate. Quoting BSP for Bulgaria's Floor Leader Borislav Gutsanov, the daily writes that it is not normal to have had six early elections in three years and that the socialists hope that the third mandate will be used to bring back dialogue between the political parties.

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On bTV's morning show there was a discussion on whether it is possible to form a government with the third exploratory mandate. Political analyst Andrey Raychev said that TISP are obliged to try as they are working for their image. According to him, the main factor that prevents Bulgaria from having a normal political system is the war in Ukraine. "It was the reason why the last regular government was formed, but it did not correspond to the mood of the people. Bulgaria, as a NATO ally, should behave in a strictly loyal way, but this does not correspond to the Bulgarians' feelings towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," the political analyst said. Social anthropologist Haralan Aleksandrov expressed belief that the parties and their leaders are beginning to practice bargaining and rapprochement. "It's a matter of cycles - for 3-4 years we were in the movement towards fragmentation - a kind of war between different parties. This has led to such a disintegration, including within parties, that it has greatly distressed politicians. They realized that it was not a bad thing to talk to each other and start cultivating relations," he added. Media expert Georgi Lozanov was adamant that there was no chance of forming a government with TISP's mandate. He stressed that achieving good tone and accommodation should not come at any cost.

On Nova Television's morning show, political analyst Milen Lyubenov also described the formation of a cabinet within the 50th National Assembly as "impossible" and added that he expects it to become clear by the end of this week that in mid-October the country goes to another early parliamentary elections. His opinion was shared by sociologist Alexey Pamporov.

Politics

Trud features an interview with lawyer and former Union of Democratic Forces and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria MP Ekaterina Mihaylova on the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the amendments to the Constitution in the part on judicial reform. "This practically closes the door for substantial changes in the future, because this decision sends the more significant changes to the field of the Grand National Assembly. If it ends up convening, it is free to do many other things that have not been debated and thought through beforehand, we may be surprised. This is an extremely risky step. Even a change in the form of government could be made," she said. Mihaylova stressed that some of the changes were indeed unconstitutional. She also noted that the Constitutional Court is a political institution, not an independent one. "Only a third of its members come from the judiciary, the others come from political institutions. I will say something that not everyone will like - it is normal for the Constitutional Court to be the result of political decisions. Both the President and the National Assembly do not elect their people to the Constitutional Court only on the basis of their judicial knowledge."

Economy

Telegraph features an interview with Confederation of Labour Podkrepa senior economist Atanas Katsarchev. He pointed out that according to the formulas used by the National Social Security Institute, a person cannot receive the maximum pension even if they are insured on the maximum income. "The system is now causing people to lose interest in insurance because there is no contribution-benefit correlation," he added. Katsarchev called for the tax and insurance reform to start this year and be completed in a maximum of two.

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24 Chasa's main story raises the issue of unconditional basic income, where the State gives people money even without them working. Proponents of this idea believe that this could provide sufficient income for people who remain outside the labour market, the newspaper says. Unions estimate that around 600,000 people of working age in Bulgaria are not currently employed. If they are included in such a programme and receive an amount to cover their basic living expenses, the State would have to spend BGN 10.8 billion a year. "Allocating that kind of money is unachievable," says Confederation of Labour Podkrepa senior economist Atanas Katsarchev. Economist Toni Badzharov believes that introducing a basic income would eliminate poverty and solve the problem of surplus jobs. He pointed out that by 2020, about 40% of jobs in China were redundant, and by 2030, about 85% of jobs globally will become redundant because the advent of new technologies, robots and artificial intelligence are permanently replacing humans, unlike previous industrial revolutions.

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On Bulgarian National Television's morning show, National Grain Producer Association Chair Ilia Prodanov and National Sheep and Goat Breeding Association Co-chair Simeon Karakolev commented on the forthcoming allocation of aid to the sector in connection with the war in Ukraine. "It appears that there is a will in the MPs. And we hope that by the end of the week the funds under the 'Ukrainian aid' will be voted," Prodanov said. "The truth is that the situation in the sector is too difficult and the lack of regular governance of the country is definitely affecting our relations," he added. There is a risk, however, the industry organizations pointed out, that the aid will not be voted through. This would lead to the "familiar formula - protest". “It is high time to get out of this formula of the cry baby. There really needs to be a responsibility here in government to accurately and clearly assess and analyze the needs of this sector," Karakolev said.

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Telegraph's main story compares 12 sources of winter heating energy.

Drought, Wildfires

Telegraph quotes data from the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, which states that the rainfall over the past period came too late for some of the later spring crops grown under non-irrigated conditions. Significant damage caused by the worsening drought was recorded in sunflower (40-50%), maize (80-90%) and field bean (90%) crops in the northeastern regions of the country, the daily writes.

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On bTV, climatologist Georgi Rachev said that this will be the warmest summer since there have been meteorological observations. The probability of it being the warmest year is almost 80%, he added. He also noted that the drought will continue in August as it is traditionally the month with the least rainfall.

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Dnevnik.bg features an article on the national alert system BG-ALERT, noting that it attracted public attention twice in one week - once because it was not activated, and a second time because it was. After a fire alert was not issued to residents of the village of Voden, authorities activated the system with two messages to inform residents in the municipality of Elin Pelin about explosions at fireworks warehouses, the media outlet states. The two incidents showed that the institutions are not yet prepared on how to use BG-ALERT - there is a lack of coordination between the different authorities, the mayors are not trained (it was not clear if anyone has received training), and citizens say the alarm is inciting panic, the article reads.