site.btaMedia Review: August 22

POLITICS:

President Rumen Radev’s decision to designate Dimitar Glavchev as candidate for caretaker prime minister dominates the media on Thursday. Radev received Glavchev at noon to mandate him to propose a lineup of a caretaker cabinet.

Mediapool.com points out that after the head of State consulted the individuals on the list of potential caretaker PM appointees, Glavchev was the only one that publicly declared willingness to be appointed to the post. Three others on the list of caretaker PM nominees told the media that they refused. These are Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Dimitar Radev, BNB Deputy Governor Radoslav Milenkov and National Audit Office Deputy Chair Toshko Todorov. The President also got a "no" from National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, the article notes. The talks held on Wednesday in search of a new caretaker prime minister came after Radev on Monday refused to issue a decree on the selection of Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva's cabinet because of the presence of Kalin Stoyanov as caretaker interior minister. It remains unclear what was said by Petar Chobanov, the BNB Deputy Governor who is considered close to Delyan Peevski and who had announced through the media a possible readiness to become caretaker prime minister, but did not confirm this during his previous meeting with the head of State.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) before Radev's decision, political scientist Dimitar Vatsov said that the President has no interest in delaying for long the process of choosing a caretaker prime minister. In his words, at the moment the drama surrounding the formation of a caretaker government is a drama between two sides. On one side are GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), who "have [control over] the people who can be elected caretaker prime minister and make a government". On the other side is Radev, who has to appoint this government and who has claims on who should be appointed there, he added. "Radev has an interest in compromising the new constitutional amendments that limit his power. He has an interest in showing that these amendments that limit his power lead to the fact that there is no one to take responsibility for the figures who are appointed to the government, the procedure is difficult and unclear. He is trying to show the real weaknesses of the procedure," Vatsov said. However, he added, the struggle is not between good and evil: "It is about the fact that a clientelist model of governance, which GERB and DPS have imposed over the years, is being carried out through their people in the key positions from which a caretaker prime minister can be chosen, and the other line of Radev, which is strongly pro-Russian and going away from the Euro-Atlantic course and going in the direction of an authoritarian tendency through an attempt to introduce a presidential republic." The political scientist stressed that Bulgaria has to protect its status as a parliamentary republic and the only way to achieve that is through elections. Vatsov expressed certainty that Kalin Stoyanov will be removed from the post of caretaker interior minister. "[GERB leader Boyko] Borissov took a step back - this is one of the main figures behind him. The other is [MRF Co-chair Delyan] Peevski. Peevski obviously wants to show himself strong, that he does not remove the guardianship over his own avatars, one of which is obviously Kalin Stoyanov. This is a show of strength. But it will become redundant and counterproductive at some point,” he argued. Vatsov expects that in the coming months Radev will create a party, but will not lead it: "Another party project. He will not abandon the presidential position in order to guard the possibility of a higher public influence and possibly a transformation of the political system towards a presidential republic."

A protest demanding the resignation of Stoyanov took place in Sofia on Thursday morning covered by most media outlets. It was organized by BOEC anti-corruption movement.

Nova Television‘s morning show featured a discussion whether Stoyanov will be replaced. "Stoyanov is suspected of serious dependence on Peevski, Radev is opposed and Borissov has taken a balanced position. It is one thing for the Interior Ministry to go after vote-buyers, it is another not to do so, this has a different meaning for the parties. The division is no longer East-West, but corruption-anticorruption," said sociologist Parvan Simeonov. According to political scientist Assoc. Stoycho Stoychev, the main role of the Interior Ministry and the Cabinet is non-interference. "There should be no pressure to vote in any direction. Second is the logistical support of the elections, but the Central Election Committee guarantees the transparency and fairness of the elections. The main criterion for the fairness of a vote is whether any party contests it. If no one does, then they have been fair,” he argued. 

On bTV's morning show, acting BSP Chair Atanas Zafirov said that Stoyanov has to decide whether he wants to be a politician or wants to be a nodal minister in a caretaker government. He argued that the culprits for everything that has happened in recent days are precisely "the ideologues, instigators and perpetrators of the changes in the Constitution of Bulgaria".

On Nova Television's morning show, political scientist Milen Lyubenov said that there are probably interests in full control of the interior ministry, which is why Stoyanov is important for the MRF. "The interior minister cannot be the reason for clogging the political process. We need to go to elections as early as possible to resolve the long political crisis," he added. Political analyst Georgi Harizanov argued that Radev's refusal is not based on the wording ''fair elections", but has another reason. "The President-Peevski conflict is a much more serious reason for this decision than the influence of Kalin Stoyanov on the elections being fair, because he is not a factor in this. Because of the weakness of the other parties, the MRF will continue to have its weight," he said. Lyubenov predicted that in electoral terms Peevski's project could not prevail over MRF's honorary chair Ahmed Dogan.

In his interview with BNR, Dimitar Vatsov also commented on the rift in MRF. According to him, the media are currently activated against Dogan's group in the MRF. "We cannot turn Peevski into some super-powerful figure. We should not think of him as some kind of master, the boss of a group. We are talking about a certain type of mafiotization in the judiciary, the security services and the yellow press. Peevski has a strong influence on this segment of people who work together, in an organized manner, agreeing among themselves who should be hit and who should not - either through the prosecution or through the media, and in good synchrony. Peevski is the emanation of this segment of Bulgarian politics", said Vatsov. He noted it was possible that at some point Peevski himself would feel "this bat". "Peevski is not the ruler of this machine, he is its embodiment, he is its temporary public image, which is its summation. The grouping behind this machine can safely sacrifice its face at a moment's notice, when it becomes insufficiently presentable. Peevski is making an effort in this regard."

On Bulgarian National Television’s morning show, MRF Deputy Chair Dzheyhan Ibryamov said that the party members loyal to Dogan “will not succumb to a brow and yellow media campaign”. “About a month ago we made an address in the National Assembly with a statement in which our chairman, Dzhevdet Chakarov, said that we had received information how several institutions had gathered in one department with the clear idea of launching ‘media bats’, the repressive apparatus of the State by using various services and putting pressure on members and sympathizers who expressed their support for Dr. Ahmed Dogan,” he recalled. "We are receiving signals from all over the country in this direction - both from ordinary members, municipal councillors and especially mayors of municipalities, where every day they are under some form of pressure from various institutions with the clear idea of being intimidated,” he added.

In an interview with BNR, former MRF deputy chair Gyuner Tahir said it was possible that those supporting Dogan would have to contest the upcoming elections through another party. "Until last week, Dogan‘s people were absolutely convinced that they would register on behalf of MRF. That Delyan Peevski could not take the abbreviation and the name of the party from them. Since last week, however, the wind is blowing in a different direction. It seems that they realize that they cannot fight Peevski in court and are now looking for an alternative," he said. According to him, there are two other possibilities - the two camps in the MRF could prevent each other from appearing on behalf of the party or both camps could try to register on behalf of the MRF and the issue could go through the CEC and reach the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC). Tahir thinks the timing works in Dogan's favour: "Ultimately the decision will be made by the SAC. I would hardly discover America if I said that the current chairman of the SAC is absolutely dependent on Peevski. His mandate expires in November". Tahir stressed that Peevski is not known in Turkiye, and those who have heard of him - have not heard him in a good way. At the same time, according to him, there is a small part of the expatriates who are fed up with Dogan and want him to be replaced, and at the moment only Peevski can do it. „A lot depends on whether the government in Ankara will take sides. So far, it is not taking," he said. In his words, Ankara tried unsuccessfully to fight Dogan by establishing other parties in the country, and now "it can leave this job to Peevski".

ECONOMY:

On Nova Television's morning show, Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) Deputy Chair Veselin Nalbantov, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Vice President Todor Kapitanov and Bulgarian Industrial Association's (BIA) National Centre for Competence Assessment Director Tomcho Tomov discussed what kind of staff Bulgarian employers are looking for, whether the workforce in Bulgaria is ageing and why the foreigners from Nepal and Sri Lanka who were hired in large numbers at the Black Sea coast have mysteriously disappeared. According to Nalbantov, the European trend shows a 5% increase of workers from Asia. However, they have almost disappeared from Bulgaria, which, according to the BHRA Deputy Chair, means that there is a channel to transfer workers to Western Europe. Another issue that was discussed was the ageing workforce in the country. According to a study by CITUB and BIA, if the ageing of the workforce continues at the same rate, then in 20 years 48% of all workers in Bulgaria will be over 55. The results apply especially to the sectors of canning industry, wood processing, furniture industry, metallurgy, brewing and trade in petroleum products. Tomov explained that the survey covers over 60-70 enterprises of different sizes. He stressed that it is possible that the situation in other sectors is even more worrying. Only 6-7% of all staff in these areas are young people under 25, BIA's expert added. "There is hardly any country in Europe that does not have a problem with the workforce," Kapitanov stressed. He added that the difficulties are not only in the listed sectors.

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Several media outlets reported that former Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) executive director Stoyan Mavrodiev has been declared nationally wanted by decree of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Mavrodiev was charged for major official embezzlement in connection with a loan of some BGN 150 million granted by the BDB to the Roadway Construction company. Rumen “The Wolf” Gaytanski is known for having run Sofia’s waste collection and disposal through his “Volf 96” OOD and “Dits” AD companies. The two companies were awarded concessions by the Sofia Municipal Council back in 1996. In 2006, the then Sofia mayor and current GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that the municipality was looking for a way to get rid of the concessionaire companies. “We’re doing everything possible to rid ourselves of “The Wolf” in Sofia,” Borissov said back then. Sofia town hall appealed three decisions of the Sofia City Court, according to which the companies had to be compensated in the amount of over BGN 8 million. Gaytanski’s companies lost their concessions in Sofia shortly after, but managed to get concessions in other large cities, such as Stara Zagora, Sliven and Kardzhali.

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Duma's leading story covers a united Left-wing proposal for young people not to pay income tax until the age of 26. The measure would cover nearly 300,000 people. "The person must be put at the centre of the social market economy," said BSP for Bulgaria member Georgi Gyokov, quoted by the daily.

EDUCATION

Telegraph writes that the Education Ministry is requesting further statements and clarifications from the National Assembly and other ministries regarding amendments to the law that prohibit “LGBT propaganda in schools”. The Ministry has assured that it will give its verdict by the end of next week. This reaction came as a result of a letter from the European Commissioner for Equality in the European Commission (EC), Helena Dalli, in which she requested clarifications from Education Minister Galin Tsokov on the adopted amendments to the Pre-school and School Education Act. The Ministry of Education and Science is not the sponsor of the amendments, which were initiated by a political party, the article points out.

On Bulgarian National Radio, Deputy Education Minister Emilia Lazarova said the Ministry was preparing answers to the EC's query. "There is time for that. We are also asking for further opinions, clarifications from the National Assembly, from other ministries. We will respond. We have set a deadline by the end of next week," she explained.

Trud also covers the topic. The daily published an article by Viktor Blaskov where he argues that this amendments are in the field of education, where the European Union has no right to interfere. "Such a procedure has already been going on against Hungary for years for a much more severe law banning LGBT, and there are entire localities in Poland where LGBT is explicitly banned. The case against Hungary is stalling, and with Poland it is barely going," he adds.

24 Chasa reports that Vazrazhdane has published a list of teachers who have signed against amendments banning the promotion of ideas and views related to non-traditional sexual orientation or the definition of gender identity other than biological. "How many parents agree that these 26 individuals should have access to their children, even including a school psychologist? We demand guarantees that these persons will not do illegal propaganda against the children of Varna," the far-right party wrote on Facebook.