site.btaIndependent MP Radostin Vasilev to Run for Sofia Mayor, Intends to Set Up Own Party

Independent MP Radostin Vasilev will run for mayor of Sofia. During a press conference at BTA’s national press club on Tuesday, he said that he will participate in the local elections as an independent candidate, and his candidacy will be put forward by a nominating committee.

Vasilev said he was well prepared for the job. The slogan of his campaign will be "Sofia free from GERB and DS".

"DS" is the acronym of the Bulgarian for the communist-era security service.

Vasilev singled out eight main priorities, among which are an overhaul of GERB’s government, including the building permits issued, the security of citizens, mass sports infrastructure, health and education, including the construction of a children's hospital, and the increase in the funding earmarked for the construction of new kindergartens and schools. Among Vasilev’s priorities are also the restructuring of the Sofia heating utility, review of the activity of the Sofia water company, construction of public car parks, and the installment of an up-to-date permanent video surveillance system in Sofia. "The infrastructure in the Bulgarian capital is in dire straits. There are still neighborhoods without sewerage," he stated.

Vasilev also said that he plans on setting up a political party. "This is the only way that my colleagues and I, as well as our supporters, can fight what we were protesting against in 2020, the same people who are now sitting in the first row in Parliament and govern in an 'assemblage'," Vasilev said.

He chose to use a word - assemblage - that has recently become a household term used to refer to the government of GERB-UDF and Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria.

The new party will be established on October 22 in Sofia. "This will be a centrist, pro-Bulgarian project which will not be dependent on the embassies nor The embassy; this will be a project which will be supported by true Bulgarian citizens," he added. He said his party is "a project that the entire Bulgarian society longs for; which does not condemn as enemies nations that are historically close to Bulgaria" and said it will not do "things our Euro-Atlantic partners have not even asked". It will "preserve the membership of Bulgaria in the EU and NATO, with dignity,” he added.

The programme will be presented at the constituent meeting of the party, Vasilev said. He was adamant that there is no chance for him to join a coalition with "GERB, Delyan Peevski, and backstage politicians".