site.btaElection Results Show Trust in Vazrazhdane Is Growing, Leader Kostadinov Says

Commenting on the election results at a news conference here on Tuesday, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said it is obvious that the trust in his party is growing. Vazrazhdane came second in 15 regions and third in 9 regions, he noted. The party came first in nearly 20% of polling stations. In his words, there are municipalities where Vazrazhdane was first in the previous elections and now got more votes, which is a sign that the party is on the right path.

Kostadinov thanked those who voted for Vazrazhdane on October 27, which were by 10% more than in the June snap elections. "Of course, that is not enough for us, because our targets are much higher," he added.

He commented that the voter turnout was higher in these elections, but so were the bought votes. According to him, Bulgarian citizens are not tired of voting; it is the elected who are tired. "Not so much tired as devoid of money," he added. "If we calculate the money which they have spent to buy votes in the last four years, it might turn out that it exceeds by a lot the sum of BGN 1 billion," he said. In his words, vote buying is the tumor of Bulgarian democracy.

"There is no dilemma for us whether there will be a government or not. It remains to be seen with which participants this government will be," the Vazrazhdane leader said. According to him, the government will be formed of at least four parties but will not last long. Such a coalition, united solely by the distribution of the budget, will end very quickly, he argued.

The most important goal of Vazrazhdane remains to protect the national interests: preserving the Bulgarian thermal power plants and keeping Bulgaria out of any external conflicts whatsoever. Preventing the murder of the Bulgarian lev remains a key priority, he added.

Commenting on the formula for an anti-GERB and anti-MRF government, proposed by MECh leader Radostin Vassilev on Monday, Kostadinov said that idea was proposed by Vazrazhdane in the previous parliament. Back then, such a majority failed to form because part of the political forces were linked to GERB and the MRF, such as Velichie [Grandeur], while others said they could not possibly accept Vazrazhdane's conditions.

Those conditions remain unchanged: a referendum on Bulgaria's eurozone membership, preservation of the Bulgarian lev, removal of the foreign occupation bases on Bulgarian territory, and re-negotiation of the conditions for Bulgaria's EU membership. Part of that re-negotiation process has begun, he noted. Two weeks ago, it became clear that Bulgaria together with nine countries from Central and Eastern Europe will demand equal subsidies for agricultural producers.

Asked whether the 4% barrier for entry in the National Assembly should be raised, Kostadinov said that it should not be amended.

Vazrazhdane has always had a nominee for National Assembly Chairman, and this time will be no exception, he noted.