site.btaMedia Review: July 12

HEADLINES 

The hot topic in print and online media on Friday is the political rift in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party. A day after Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Honorary Chair Ahmed Dogan called for the resignation of one of the party’s two chairpersons, Delyan Peevski, MRF’s parliamentary group decided to expel 17 MPs, including the other Chair Dzhevdet Chakarov.

The morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television, bTV, and Nova TV all feature discussions on the matter. The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has interviews with MRF MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, political analyst Boris Stanimirov and legal expert Ivan Bregov, who presented the possibilities for the judiciary system following the break of MRF. 

Telegraph is the only newspaper that does not have at least a headline on the topic on its frontpage. The main story in Capital weekly is on Bulgaria’s demography and trends in population dynamics, but the MRF topic is at the top of the frontpage with a headline reading “The war between Ahmed Dogan and Peevski”. The leading headline on frontpage of Trud highlights that the rift in the party dragged the MRF parliamentary group down to be the fourth political power in the National Assembly. Duma has a frontpage headline reading that the turmoil in the MRF party continues. The topical headline on the frontpage of 24 Chasa poses the question of what is going to happen next: “Two parties or a cold peace?”.

The top story on the front page in Telegraph is an economic analysis on a recent increase in the pensions of the elderly. 24 Chasa leads with a headline about the hot weather and how             Bulgarian cities are managing to fight the heat. Dumas frontpage headline is that “NATO launches a military corridor through Bulgaria.” 

POLITICS – MRF RIFT, POWER SHIFT IN PARLIAMENT  

Dnevnik.bg writes that after the official split of the MRF into two camps and the subsequent expulsion of 17 MPs, the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) parliamentary group became the second largest in the National Assembly, elected on June 9. Thus, the CC-DB coalition, in which there are still disputes about whether and how to attempt to form a regular cabinet, should be given the second exploratory mandate by the president to form a cabinet.

Dnevnik.bg writes that it is following live whether the mandate issue will lead to a split in the coalition, whether there will be a majority for an anti-Peevski cabinet and whether the emergence of a new parliamentary group will be possible.

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Yordan Tsonev, MRF MP and Deputy Chair of the National Assembly, told bTV that he is part of Delyan Peevski's team. “The fact that I was not mentioned in Ahmed Dogan's letter requesting my resignation gives me the opportunity to announce my own decision, which is that I will remain on Peevski's team," Tsonev said.

He specified that for almost 25 years he has been next to Ahmed Dogan, the honorary chairman of MRF. On Thursday, Dogan asked for the resignation of Delyan Peevski and five other prominent names in the party.

"But what has happened in the last days, in me personally wavers some of my firm conviction of the last 25 years. This attack comes at a time when the party is at its historic peak - the party is in great condition. Good or bad, approved or disapproved, loved or hated, Peevski has done great things for the people and for MRF. He built a great team," Tsonev insisted.

Responding to accusations of authoritarianism, he said that MRF has always been ruled with a "firm hand".

"I have the feeling that for 25 years I have been misled into believing that unity is the philosophy of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms," Tsonev said, and assured that the people who remain in Delyan Peevski's team will not rise against Ahmed Dogan.

So far Tsonev is the only party member that has publicly voiced his support for Peevski. 

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Former MRF MP Timur Halilov, who is among the 17 expelled on Thursday, told the morning programme of Nova TV that he expected more people to be expelled from the MRF parliamentary group. According to him, the expulsion was voted with signatures collected on blank sheets. “The colleagues did not know what they were signing up to,” Halilov said. In his opinion, the number of declarations submitted by the regional party structures in support of Dogan is increasing every day.

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Legal expert Ivan Bregov from the Institute for Market Economic said in an interview for BNR that now is the time for the political influence in the judiciary to be broken. "A historic loophole exists that must be exploited skillfully politically if justice issues are not to be thrown out again," he stressed. "It is quite possible that now, when a critical test is being put to who has the most influence in the Prosecution Office, in the Supreme Judicial Council, there will be some kind of thaw and it will be evident in the actions of the members of the Judicial Council themselves, as well as in the actions of the Prosecutor General. It was obvious that Peevski's circle is probably the most influential in the Prosecution Office", Bregov told BNR.

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MRF MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk stressed in an interview for BNR that the party’s “voters have never been confused and will never be confused.” Kyuchyuk, who openly expressed full support for Dogan, commented on the case of Peevski being sanctioned by the Global Magnitsky Act. The MEP said that he had been asked about it many times by those working with him in the European structures - "dozens of times", but he defended the party's values. 

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Capital weekly highlights that Peevski has financial resources and influence in the power structures of the state through which he can deal with people from the MRF who side with Dogan. Against Peevski, however, are politicians with a long history in the party and the activists (mainly ethnic Turks), who in all the years since Peevski's appearance among them accepted him because "that's what Dogan wanted". In response to the question why Dogan bet on Peevski, Capital writes that it is difficult to say why Dogan allowed Peevski to take the co-chairmanship of the MRF, for this there are only assumptions. According to some, it is because he himself has become financially dependent on him. For example, because of TPP "Varna" Dogan owes Bulgargaz nearly BGN 40 million, which, according to the government's "favour", can become instantly due or can be rescheduled over time with low interest, as it is said that it happened last week. According to others, the MRF party itself is in similar financial dependence on Peevski.

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24 Chasa has an article with the title: “CC-DB rely on [President] Rumen Radev to give them more time for an acceptable government line-up”. 

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Speaking on the morning programme of BNT on Friday, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana commented on a range of issues, including the country's planned accession to the eurozone, the completion of the process of achieving full membership of the Schengen area, and the recent European Parliament elections. She holds that it is important for Bulgaria to be stable, to inspire trust in its EU partners, and to be aware that frequent changes of government and frequent elections do not send a good message.

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Telegraph’s political front page headline reads that the country’s political crisis is slowing down the funds for Bulgarian Antarctic missions, quoting the head of the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, Prof. Dr. Christo Pimpirev. 

ECONOMY 

Telegraph’s top story on the latest pension increase for the elderly by 11% reads that retirees will be able to add about one loaf of bread and two slices more in July compared to June after the adjustment of their pensions. Another month-on-month comparison made states that pensioners can now put another 250 grammes of Bulgarian yoghurt and another wiener in their refrigerator.

DEMOGRAPHY

Capital weekly issue story is entitled “From Sofia to Valencia: Live wherever you want”. The frontpage highlights are that there is a growing group of people who choose to live in better places in Europe for comparable income. COVID-19, home office work, low-cost travel by air, the rise of incomes is listed as factors that have raised the competitiveness of Bulagrian cities in comparison to the European Union. Thus, Bulgarian cities should implement active policy to attract new population and keep the existing one. The article’s body has a highlight that references European Commission study that shows that people are more satisfied with their lives when they have easy access to green spaces in their vicinity.