site.btaMedia Review: November 6

LOCAL ELECTIONS RUNOFFS

On Monday, all newspapers and online news outlets cover extensively the local elections’ runoffs in Sofia and 18 regional capitals in Bulgaria, which took place on Sunday, November 5. The Central Election Committee’s (CEC) has completed the count of the tally sheets in the 18 regional capitals, as of 7 a.m. on Monday morning. The count continues in Sofia, where, according to data as of 7 a.m. on Monday and based on 99.78% of the tally sheets, Vassil Terziev, the candidate of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and Save Sofia, leads over his opponent Vanya Grigorova, the candidate of a BSP-led coalition, with 48.17% to 46.92% of the votes.

GERB kept the mayor's office in the second biggest city of Plovdiv, as well as in Pleven and Veliko Tarnovo, but lost Varna to CC-DB. CC-DB also prevailed in the southern city of Blagoevgrad by a narrow margin, and the Socialist candidate in Ruse, on the Danube, was re-elected.

Here are the results in the 18 regional capitals, based on 100% of the tally sheets processed.

Plovdiv:

Kostadin Dimitrov (GERB) 54.15%

Ivaylo Staribratov (Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria) 41.68%

Varna:

Blagomir Kotsev (Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria) 53.06%

Ivan Portnih (GERB) 41.52%

Blagoevgrad:

Metodi Baykushev (Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria) 50.21%

Ilko Stoyanov (independent backed by GERB) 47.24%

Veliko Tarnovo:

Daniel Panov (GERB) 53.2%

Yordan Terziiski (Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria) 42.3%

Ruse:

Pencho Milkov (BSP) 63%

Ivan Ivanov (GERB) 31.58%

Pleven:

Valentin Hristov (GERB) 63.62%

Georg Spartanski (nomination committee) 33.51%

Haskovo

Stanislav Dechev (GERB) 60.37%

Nikolay Stavrev (independent backed by Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, BSP and Here We Come):  37.37%

Vidin:

Tsvetan Tsenkov (UDF) 57.28%

Aleksandar Mateev (GERB) 39.92

Gabrovo:

Tanya Hristova (GERB) 66.58%

Daniel Petrov (Vazrazhdane) 28.86%

Dobrich:

Yordan Yordanov (DBG local coalition) 50.72%

Krasimir Nikolov (GERB) 45.04%

Kyustendil:

Ognyan Atanasov (Green Party) 68.63%

Petar Paunov (GERB) 29.61%

Lovech:

Stratsimir Petrov (There Is Such a People) 51.76%

Valentina Nedyalkova (GERB-UDF) 45.60

Pazardzhik:

Petar Kulenski (Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria) 53.94%

Todor Popov (New Time) 43.95%

Razgrad:

Dobrin Dobrev (independent) 54%

Miroslav Grancharov (Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria) 42.98%

Silistra:

Alexander Sabanov (independent) 56.21%

Ivelin Ivanov (GERB) 37.89%

Sliven:

Stefan Radev (GERB) 59.33%

Plamen Stoyanov (Direct Democracy) 37.89%

Smolyan:

Nikolai Melemov (GERB) 48.63%

Stefan Sabrutev (Our City Movement) 47.47%

Shumen:

Hristo Hristov (BSP for Bulgaria) 71.38%

Georgi Kolev (GERB) 25.88%

***

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, newly-elected Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev of CC-DB, said that the citizens of Varna have made it clear that they want a change in the course of how their city is governed. “There are no assemblages in Varna”, he emphasized. (*Assemblage is a word that is often used for the government of CC-DB and GERB when the speaker wants to underscore its perceived unprincipled nature). Kotsev pointed out that the people of Varna want a change in the model of governance because former mayor Ivan Portnih of GERB has managed the city "in a non-transparent way" over the past 10 years. Accusing Portnih of dependencies, Kotsev declared that during his term in office there would be "no backstage players pulling the strings", while he and his team would work "transparently and with great zeal". "I will work to ensure that the interests of business and citizens coincide", the newly-elected Varna mayor emphasized.

***

In a BNR interview, newly-elected Plovdiv Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov of GERB said that he and his team managed to conduct a very positive election campaign. “We managed to keep the good tone, even though there was a negative campaign against us”, he noted, adding he is surprised that the voter turnout in the city was low. Plovdiv is a wonderful city, but has been in decline for the past few years, Dimitrov said, promising that there will be no backstage deals during his term in office.

***

Quoted by BNR, newly-elected Blagoevgrad Mayor Metodi Baykushev of CC-DB said that he and his team need to put Blagoevgrad back on Bulgaria’s investment map. "I start work on this very day. […] We have to do a financial analysis, because a budget is to be adopted. The previous municipal council has also set the drawing down a new loan. We have a lot of serious work to do", he said.

***

Speaking to BNR, Iva Lazarova of the Institute for Public Environment Development said that there were problems with less than 1% of all the voting machines. Voting in local elections’ runoffs took place in some 7,250 polling stations, with machine voting being available in some 5,900 of them. Lazarova recalled that, according to Ciela Norma - the company that provides and maintains the voting machines, the paper in the machines did not meet their technical requirements and in the second round of the local elections on Sunday there were again blank and torn ballot papers, as well as ballot papers that failed to print. In her words, the CEC was aware of the existing problems with the special paper that was used. Some two thirds of all Bulgarians who voted on November 5, preferred to cast their votes by voting machines, Lazarova stressed, adding that the undermined trust in the electoral process remains the biggest problem during elections in Bulgaria.

***

Sofia Municipal Election Commission Chair Polina Vitanova told Dnevnik.bg that most of Sofia’s citizens preferred to vote by machine. "There were problems with the machines - some were printing blank ballot papers, others crumpled up the ballot papers", she added, not knowing the reasons why. When a problem occurred, voters were allowed to vote a second time in a preferred way of their choice – to try again by machine or by paper, Vitanova clarified.

***

Commenting on the results of the runoffs in Nova TV’s morning talk show, Political analyst Dimitar Ganev from Trend Research Center said that Vassil Terziev’s victory in Sofia is a symbol of a radical change. "GERB is a single-handedly led party and [Boyko] Borissov is aware that in this situation there are not many options to leave the ruling majority. He will continue to wait for CC-DB, who bear the core responsibility in the government until they rotate. He will then be able to demand a different balance within the [ruling] majority, but not to topple it or trigger new [parliamentary] elections”, Ganev explained. (*GERB and CC-DB have formed a regular government on a rotating basis after the parliamentary elections on April 2). In Ganev's words, Vanya Grigorova has achieved her goal, gaining huge political capital that will probably be used in the next few months for a possible new leftist political project.

During the same debate on Nova TV, sociologist Andrey Raychev added that the election battle across Bulgaria has been a mayoral one, while in Sofia it has been political. According to him, the overall political picture in Bulgaria will not change soon. He added that the so-called assemblage with GERB is ‘very unpleasant’ for CC-DB.

***

In a BNR interview, Gallup International director Parvan Simeonov stated that 'everyone has done well in the local elections'. According to him, a year or two ago, there was a tendency for all parties to stand against GERB and now everyone is against CC-DB. Simeonov added that, as political unit, the party will become more and more a sustainable factor in Bulgaria. There reasons for this are demographic and geopolitical, he believes. "Yesterday, [Boyko] Borissov said, 'Let's fortify the assemblage'. 'The others' are losing ground. The victory of 'the others' in Sofia is pyrrhic. But 'the others' continue to believe in some kind of judicial reform. For the wiser among them, it is clear that it is no better to initiate constitutional reform, as it will get worse. Usually, Borissov survives and his partners get eaten", Simeonov argued.

***

In a frontpage analysis, the Trud daily says that voting machines do not guarantee the security of the electoral process, and the issues related to the machines are becoming more and more. Trud say their analysis is based on the opinions of political analysts and experts on the topic, but the media does not provide any of their names. According to those unnamed analysts, machine voting gives grounds for suspicion of manipulation and distortion of election results. This erodes trust in the electoral process, which not very high anyway, the newspaper writes.

***

The title of 24 Chasa’s frontpage article reads “Leftist – for Vanya, Sofia – for Vassil Terziev”. According to this analysis of the results of the runoff in Sofia, Vassil Terziev wins the race in the capital while Vanya Grigorova wins the casting to be the face of the new political project in Bulgaria. The article is based on the opinions of political analysts, politicians and journalists. 24 Chasa does not share their names.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

The Trud daily published an in-depth interview with Nikica Korubin, political expert and former member of Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia, according to whom the phrase ‘Bulgarian dictate’, used by VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski, is a propaganda tool of Skopje. In her words, the phrase ‘Bulgarian dictate’ is a simple propaganda tool to maintain the anti-Bulgarian feeling in society in North Macedonia. Those who used ‘this lie’ spread it everywhere without being penalized for it. Thus, they deliberately mislead the citizens of North Macedonia, Korubin emphasized. According to her, all North Macedonian politicians who use such manipulations deliberately do not talk about the European Union, because Bulgaria is a member of the EU. Currently, North Macedonia has obligations only to Brussels and the EU to fulfil the terms of the negotiating framework, which is the common position of all EU Member States, Korubin said, adding that, there can be no question of a 'dictate' of any kind, since North Macedonian citizens themselves want to join the EU. The phrase ‘Bulgarian dictate’ is needed in public discourse so that the North Macedonian citizens can be kept in the role of victims whose “saviours and defenders” will not allow this to happen. Such obvious populism has one purpose and many more hidden intentions. Its aim is to block the country – the citizens should be asking the question “Who is standing behind it in the dark?”, Korubin told Trud.

ECONOMY

Trud writes that the wholesale price of cow butter in Bulgaria has risen by 3.3% in the past week, exceeding BGN 20 per kilogram. The article is based on data by the State Commission for Commodity Exchanges and Wholesale Markets. Most basic foods, including dairy products, fruits and vegetables, rose in price at the country's commodity exchanges and wholesale markets last week. The rise in dairy products is not economically justified as the farm gate price remains unchanged at BGN 0.87 per litre of milk. Electricity, labour and fuel costs have not increased, as well.

WEATHER

An article on Mediapool.bg reads that a bizarre natural phenomenon was observed in the skies over Bulgaria on Sunday night - aurora borealis. Quoting specialized weather forecast website Meteo Balkans, Mediapool.bg says that the aurora was initially spotted in Northeastern Bulgaria, and was later observed in all parts of the country. The aurora has also been spotted in Romania, Hungary, Czechia, Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia.