site.btaMedia Review: July 17

Wednesday’s news media all focus on the proposal by Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) for a parliamentary declaration on ending the political crisis by making legislative change to fight corruption. Talks between CC-DB and other parliamentary forces are expected to be held on Wednesday to discuss the draft document.

POLITICS

24 Chasa has an interview with Iskra Mihaylova, deputy floor leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), who comments on the rift in the party and why her group is against CC-DB’s proposal. Mihaylova says that Bulgaria should take all necessary measures to guarantee a normal counter-corruption environment. However, that is done when all State bodies are functioning, and not “by twisting the Constitution slightly however it serves us, or by creating a majority under the pressure of PR moves”. In her words, it is absurd for someone to try to form a parliamentary majority by obliging MPs to declare in advance that they will vote in favour of a bill. 

Trud has an interview with political expert Toncho Kraevski about CC-DB’s proposal that the President postpone handing them the second cabinet-forming mandate. Kraevski describes that move as aggressive and manipulative. CC-DB are creating a precedent by telling the head of State to take advantage of the lack of a deadline in the Constitution for handing the mandate in order to pursue political interests. According to Kraevski, Democratic Bulgaria truly want to put an end to the governance model of MRF Chairman Delyan Peevski, but Continue the Change simply wish to take Peevski’s place. To exit the crisis of Bulgaria’s party system, there are only two options: the parties have to either make a compromise and form coalitions, or head towards a Grand National Assembly or some model of a presidential or semi-presidential republic. 

24 Chasa has an analysis by Valeri Naydenov, who argues that if President Rumen Radev accepts CC-DB’s proposal to postpone handing them the second mandate and thus leaves the power in the hands of the caretaker government, he has the chance at presidential republic. The caretaker government is no longer controlled by him due to the recent changes in the Constitution, but in the weeks the Constitutional Court might come out with a decision that those changes are unconstitutional, thus restoring the head of State’s powers when it comes to caretaker cabinets.

Duma quotes Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Acting Chairman Atanas Zafirov as saying on Bulgarian National Radio on Tuesday that CC-DB want a postponement of the second exploratory mandate with the argument that meetings should be held with the other parliamentary forces. It has been known for nearly a week that CC-DB will receive the second mandate instead of the MRF, so they could have used that time. “No talks have been held with us in any form. That is why I find this proposal as avoidance of responsibility,” Zafirov commented. The BSP would always support counter-corruption measures, but when it comes to reforms, caution is needed, he noted, giving the judicial reform and constitutional amendments as a bad example. “Moreover, I heard a plan for changes in the security services and the regulatory bodies – is that on the agenda of Bulgarian society?” According to Zafirov, such changes should be done by a stable majority with a clear vision. The BSP is ready for dialogue with CC-DB and expect to be invited to talks but without limitations set in advance, he added.

An analysis in Sega.bg reads that after the rift in the MRF suddenly left CC-DB the second biggest group in Parliament and, thus, the group to receive the second exploratory mandate, the Right ended up in a position to work on forming a government. That, however, is more of a problem than an opportunity for them. Firstly, because CC and DB have different opinions on the government: Continue the Change prefer to be in opposition, while Democratic Bulgaria are ready to compromise to be in the government in the name of certain reforms. Secondly, because CC-DB now has to negotiate with parties with which the formation is at odds. What CC-DB proposed to the President on Monday is a mind-boggling solution in its absurdity, the analysis reads. Their declaration contains proposals for reforms that sound good, but the problem is that CC-DB demand their priorities to be accepted by Parliament first, and then they would potentially form a government in some three months. In the meantime, the power will be in the hands of the caretaker cabinet or, in other words, GERB-UDF. The others parliamentary groups would not agree to that. The whole scheme on which CC-DB wishes to work is so inapplicable that it is as if prepared to fail from the start. Through it, the Right will be able to say they have tried but the others did not support them, choosing instead to support the corrupt status quo, thus leaving only CC-DB on the side of law and justice – a good election campaign message. 

An analysis in Telegraf reads that the parliamentary forces are comparing declaration sizes. The article refers to Vazrazhdane’s declaration presented on Tuesday, which the group said should be approved by CC-DB if Vazrazhdane are to back CC-DB’s declaration, presented on Monday. 

On Nova TV, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said that the only solution is for CC-DB to approve what his party is proposing, otherwise there will be snap elections. CC-DB have one MP more than Vazrazhdane, so why should CC-DB be the ones setting conditions for the others? “We are not setting conditions; we are saying that we will back their proposals, for which we ourselves have been talking for years,” he argued. In his words, you cannot fight corruption if there is no rule of law, and that, as well as the democratic right of every Bulgarian citizen, has been trampled on in the last 35 years. CC-DB claim they are fighting corruption, but at the same time they are trampling on democracy by trampling on referenda, he said.

On Bulgarian National Radio, Lyudmila Ilieva MP of CC-DB and one of the three members of the group’s team who will negotiate with the other parliamentary forces on CC-DB’s declation, called on politicians to be responsible and, if necessary, to take a step back. She said that a step back could be a step forward for all. The deadline the CC-DB have given themselves for the meetings is the end of the week. "If this step back, this political ego, this huffing and puffing does not stop, then let's go yet again to parliamentary elections, in which I don't see what will be different," she argued. "No matter how many times we do the same thing in the same way, the result will be the same.  That is why we proposed in our declaration the so-called technical government - non-partisan, national, which was the basis for the parliamentary group to discuss and propose in the National Assembly to adopt this declaration. The new approach we have chosen is to put the goal at the beginning. What we are proposing are the means to achieve that goal," the MP explained. According to her, the extension by three months of the handing of the cabinet-forming mandate is constitutionally defined as reasonable. This means that it is applicable to the current political situation, she explained. According to her, the President should take actions that put the Constitution into practice: "May he, with the powers vested in him, realise that there are situations where rushing will lead to worse consequences. This is our appeal to him: let him be reasonable, as the situation demands."

Darik.bg presents the opinion of constitutional law experts on CC-DB’s proposal that the President delay handing them the exploratory mandate. According to Orlin Kolev, the head of State can delay but only to give time for the formation of a parliamentary majority, and not for the purpose of legislative changes being passed in the National Assembly, as is the case with CC-DB’s proposal. In that sense, CC-DB’s proposal is perplexing. They want a postponement by three months, but the legislative changes they propose are too ambitious and might take more than three months to be passed in Parliament; that cannot happen at the expense of the constitutional procedure for cabinet formation, Kolev argued. The situation could become even more complicated depending on the Constitutional Court’s decision on the latest constitutional amendments; the decision is expected in late July. According to Nataliya Kisselova, all amendments could be found unconstitutional.

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, political expert Prof Maria Pirgova commented that CC-DB’s declaration is reasonable but poorly executed; it is an election campaign move needed by the formation. Journalist Vesselin Stoynev commented that CC-DB’s initiative is directed at voters and at talks with other political forces. “The bridges of dialogue should start now, regardless of the low chances of this declaration getting adopted,” he argued. According to political expert Tatyna Bouroudzhieva, one cannot build a bridge for talks with a declaration that draws red lines.

On bTV’s morning show, Toma Bikov MP of GERB-UDF commented that they have never turned down talks with CC-DB, despite CC-DB having refused to meet with GERB exactly a month ago. The time to have this kind of talks was before the handing of the first cabinet-forming mandate, he argued. It is not right for the third parliamentary force [based on election results] to be determining the governance formula. Bikov called CC-DB’s idea extravagant. The government without a coalition in the previous National Assembly resulted in both GERB and CC-DB losing 140,000 and 300,000 votes, respectively, in the June 9 elections, he said.

On Nova TV’s morning show, GERB Deputy Chair Daniel Mitov reiterated that his parliamentary group will not back a government formed under the second and third mandate. It is good if someone manages to form a majority from the other parties, but for GERB it is clear that in a democratic country, the legitimacy is concentrated mostly in the party who has won the elections. It is that party who should form a majority under the first exploratory mandate, he argued. On the declaration proposed by CC-DB, Mitov commented that "there is no way to go forward with such exercises". "The CC-DB have turned the procedure upside down again. They are now trying to get out of the trap they set for themselves. In the beginning, they said they would be the opposition. But by a quirk of providence the second mandate came to them. Now they are trying not to collude with anybody, but they have to offer something. We don't get into the game with them - we owe them a talk. That is the essence of parliamentarianism. The problem is that they did not agree to such a dialogue when the time was right and we reached out to them. Then they should have reacted and come with the points in question", Mitov underscored. He added that the texts in CC-DB's declaration have actually been written jointly by CC-DB and GERB in the previous parliament.

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24 Chasa’s front-page story is dedicated to the President’s wife, Dessislava Radeva. Both haters and fans are keeping an eye on her as a means to feel closer to the power holders, famous Bulgarian PR agents conclude from an analysis of her activity on social networks. Radeva is the most active Bulgarian head of State’s wife and knows how to attract interest, article reads.

ECONOMY

Capital.bg reports that the extreme heatwave for a second week in a row has set the energy market on fire. Exchange prices of electricity since the start of July are at their highest level in a year and a half, coal-fired power plants are working as if it is the middle of winter, and Bulgaria is exporting huge quantities of electricity for the region. It is the electricity prices, which at night reach 1,500 BGN/MWh, are the reason for the coal-fired plants to have work and for the export of energy, because at lower prices the plants cannot compete and Bulgaria has to import energy. Now, however, the situation is different: the domestic energy consumption is at a record-high for this period of the year because of the mass use of air conditioning in the heat. During hot days, the energy consumption is practically no different than in a large part of last winter. On July 17, specifically, the exchange price of the base load exceeded 440 BNG/MWh, which has not happened since the winter of 2022-2023. That value is enough for thermal power plants to operate at a profit, the article reads. 

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Telegraf's front-page article is about the summer holiday prices on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. A check by the daily shows that spending one night at the Elenite resort costs as much as two nights in Aheloy, for example.

HOME AFFAIRS

Trud’s front-page article is about the heatwave in Bulgaria. Bulgaria has adopted a warning system where a code orange for dangerously hot weather is issued when the temperature exceeds 38C, while in some parts of Europe the threshold is 35C. According to Zornitsa Spassova, chief assistant at the National Centre of Public Health and Analyses, the threshold in Bulgaria is too high and should be reduced by 3C in light of the ever more frequent and intense heatwaves. The number of hot days grows by 3.5 a decade, she specified.

The main topic of Wednesday’s morning show on Bulgarian National Television are the fires raging in the country and what people should do in the heatwave. 

bTV’s morning show too offers advice on how to deal with the extremely high temperatures.

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Telegraf has an interview with former Interior Ministry representative in the USA Ivan Anchev about the recent attempt on the life of former US president Donald Trump. According to Anchev, the assassination attempt might guarantee Trump victory in the November 2024 presidential elections.