site.btaMedia Review: October 22

OCTOBER 27 ELECTIONS

Seven parties are going to enter the 51st National Assembly, according to the data from a nationwide survey, funded and implemented jointly by bTV and Market LINKS, conducted among 1,014 people over 18 in face-to-face interview or online questionnaires.

GERB-UDF is the first political force with 24%, followed by Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) with 14.1% support. Vazrazhdane are third with 13.1% and the fourth political force is Ahmed Dogan’s Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (ARF) with 8.3% support.

Next are Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - New Beginning with 7.2% support, BSP - United Left with 7% and There Is Sush a People (TISP) with 4.6%.

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Dnevnik runs an analysis by Daniel Smilov, comparative constitutional lawyer and political scientist.

At the end of the election campaign, it becomes clear that there are two specific ideas for governance after the elections, which can be conditionally called Plan CC-DB and Plan Peevski. Meanwhile, everyone else also promises to form a government, but without specifying how this will happen.

As in the last six elections, GERB leader Boyko Borissov is first among promisors, but so far he has only made clear that he doesn’t like Plan CC-DB. Logicians would say that if he rejects one plan, then he accepts the other. But Borissov is unlikely to agree and will insist that an excluded third option is possible in his political universe.

The choice Bulgaria faces however is indeed logical because it boils down to a simple dilemma: governance without Peevski or governance with Peevski. There is no third option. The dilemma is simple, but every round of elections is quite complex and difficult for the political players.

There is also one peculiarity: if no regular government is implemented, the country will continue to be ruled by a caretaker cabinet. That is, it will be ruled with Peevski and by Peevski, because in the current caretaker government, key ministers - such as the interior minister - are from his "quota".

In other words: the scales are tipped in favour of a government with Peevski, and GERB and Borissov do not seem worried about this fact.

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As the elections approach, more and more members of election commissions in Blagoevgrad are quitting. This is not the first time such a situation has happened there, Nova TV reports.

"Out of nearly 6,000 members we have replaced 2,000, that is one-third, the question that comes up is how prepared are the new members who have to take their places in the section commissions on election day. This leads to errors in the processing of the tally sheets. There are queues in front of the regional election commission (REC) station, the processing of results sometimes takes over 20 hours," said Martin Buserov, chairman of REC-Blagoevgrad.

Members started to quit after the trainings held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in all 14 municipalities in the electoral district.

"Immediately after the training, we received emails to replace 60-80 or 100 people from one party. In my opinion, the parties are irresponsible," Buserov said.

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Mathematician Prof. Mihail Konstantinov revealed to Nova TV the tariffs in vote buying this fall. According to his information, the highest is BGN 200 per voter and BGN 200 per buyer, and the lowest - BGN 50 for each. The Center for the Study of Democracy 's observations are that almost all parties are partaking in vote buying.

Prof. Konstantinov’s calculations show that about 1.8 million votes will form the composition of the future parliament. The figures suggest that an MP will be elected with around 7,500 votes. "This number is absolutely unachievable for an independent candidate," the mathematician noted. He said the bought vote would produce a parliamentary group of 10-12 people. 

HEALTH

The summer heat has brought to Bulgaria a "man-eating bacterium"- Vibrio vulnificus, infectious disease experts said, according to Trud and other media. Until recently, it was unknown in Bulgaria, and this year alone there have been four cases of infected tourists who were on the beach.

According to medics, the prolonged heat spell last summer is a possible cause for the appearance of the bacterium.

"The sea water had reached unbelievable temperatures, and there were no periods with rainfall and currents to refresh the sea water," Dr. Kalina Tsankova, head of the Microbiology Laboratory at the University Hospital Burgas, told Trud News.

“Besides, they thrive on the fresh-salt water border, and we have many such places here,” Dr. Tsankova further explained.

Vibrio vulnificus is called a man-eater because it eats flesh, causing soft tissue infection, sepsis can develop and death can occur in a matter of hours. Treatment is antibiotic and surgical. Last year, five deaths were reported in scientific publications in Tampa Bay, Florida due to the same causative agent.

Two patients have died this summer from the flesh-eating bacterium Vibrio vulnificus in Burgas. Both were admitted too late to hospital and despite doctors' efforts they could not be saved. Medics fought for the life of one of them for more than a month.

The case is now being described in a scientific publication and will be reported at a congress.

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Patients are sounding the alarm about a shortage of organ rejection drugs for transplants, the national television reports. The shortage of the drugs could prove life-threatening, yet measures to secure the necessary supplies have not been taken, the patient organisation says.

The Bulgarian Patients Forum stressed that these drugs are of utmost importance for transplant patients.

In a position paper to the Bulgarian National Television, the Health Ministry explained that supplies of the medicines in question have been regular over the past months. The next delivery is in November. The ministry said that the available medicines are sufficient to meet the needs of Bulgarian patients.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nova News runs an interview with Prof. Dimitar Nedyalkov of the Rakovski National Defence College. 

He says that drones are very widespread. With their robotics and artificial intelligence, they have entered the armed forces of both regular armies and terrorist groups unexpectedly quickly. They are inexpensive to produce and very good at doing their job.

Military schools in Bulgaria are already undergoing drone training, as the aerial vehicle is increasingly being deployed and is an element of national security. "Drone manufacturing is an important direction in the development of the economy and structure of society," the Professor stressed.

"As early as the 1960s, Bulgaria was producing drones. We were the only ones in the Balkans in this respect and one of the few in Europe and the world," Nedyalkov said. He pointed out that about 200 companies are currently engaged in the development of drones in Bulgaria. "The state should pay attention to domestic manufacturers," he stressed.

Nedyalkov is of the opinion that behind every system there must be a person. "An element of these systems is artificial intelligence, but more and more specialists are stressing the fact that the greatest danger to humanity could be AI itself. So, at least as a control measure, there must be a human behind it," the Professor explained.

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According to a ranking by the William Russell company which insures expats, Bulgaria is number one in Europe as a desirable destination for people who want to start a new life abroad, the national radio reports.

Experts from the company, which insures people living and working abroad, have produced a ranking of the ten countries around the world with the biggest relative increase in expat population since 1990.

Bulgaria ranks fourth in the world, and first in Europe, thanks to a jump in the number of emigrants from 21,000 in 1990 to 184,000 in 2020, or a 732% increase.

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Sofia Airport warns on Facebook that in view of the forthcoming refurbishment of the covered car park at Terminal 2, they urge owners of vehicles that have been left indefinitely to take action to remove them within the next two weeks. After this period all unclaimed vehicles will be repatriated to penalty parking, the statement says, adding that after November 25, the Terminal 2 covered parking lot will not be accessible due to the upcoming overhaul of the facility.

Further information can be obtained at: +359 2 937 2809 or parking@sof-connect.com.