site.btaMedia Review: September 10

HEADLINES

The leading topics in the media on Tuesday are political, economic and education related. The front pages of print media dedicate more space to economy and education. 24 Chasa and Trud lead with articles about Bulgaria’s pension system, Telegraph has an analysis on the income increase in the country.

The common topics on the morning programmes of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), bTV, and Nova TV are political. BNT has a discussion studio on the strategies of parties before and after the upcoming early parliamentary elections on October 27. All morning programmes discuss the registration of parties for the elections by the Central Election Commission (CEC) amid the issues with the rifts in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) had an interview with political scientist Milena Stefanova who said that Bulgaria’s party system is almost at the final stage of transformation. Political scientist Hristo Panchugov commented for BNR on the rift in the MRF, saying that a solution is not foreseen after a decision of the CEC or the Supreme Administrative Court. 

POLITICS

The front page of Duma quotes the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Executive Bureau, which stated that the BSP will run in the upcoming snap elections in the BSP-United Left coalition. "We will not allow the 133-year-old party of the Bulgarian Socialists to be hijacked by a few people, in violation of the decisions of the collective bodies of the party and contrary to morality and political logic," the BSP Executive Bureau said, adding that: "The documents for registration of BSP submitted today to the CEC by Svilenski and Chenchev - persons who are no longer members of the BSP, representing Korneliya Ninova, who is no longer either chair or member of the BSP, with a petition that was not collected by the legitimate local structures of the party, is an attempt to deliberately harm both the BSP and the broad left coalition. This is being done in the interests of forces that do not want to see a strong left in Bulgaria".

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Political scientist Milena Stefanova told BNR that, according to her, the main reason for what is happening in the MRF is the fact that the party has two co-chairs who together and separately can represent the Movement. Her concerns pointed in the direction of not obstructing the election process and not creating opportunities and conditions for contesting the election results. Stefanova noted that anything is possible considering the current situation.

According to her, the situation of the BSP is a bit more predictable as a possible participant in these elections. There is a decision of the party's official bodies, which support that Korneliya Ninova should not represent the party, she explained. In her words, in this case it will be less difficult for the court to decide.

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Interviewed by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), political analyst Hristo Panchugov commented on the latest developments in MRF and BSP. Talking about MRF, he said the upcoming elections had catalyzed processes which will leave it in a much worse state than before. The court will have to decide much sooner if Delyan Peevski's expulsion from the party was legitimate and who represents MRF. Still, it is not certain that the Supreme Administrative Court's decision will precede the deadline for registration.

Keeping the MRF brand matters much more to one of the sides to the conflict. It is much more important for Peevski because without the MRF name, it is doubtful that in a month's time, a coalition with any financial and organizational resources could achieve influential political representation and preserve him as leader, which is the ultimate goal. The other side does not need the MRF brand that much, though Dogan needs to show that he can deal with this situation and hold on to the MRF brand. Still, what that side needs is a poster with Dogan's image on it.

The analyst also said the point is to get to the root cause of the Dogan-Peevski conflict, and argued that it stems from the division of some corporate assets.

As to BSP, Panchugov is not optimistic that the new left-wing alliance will do better in the elections: "It doesn't unite voters, it does not broaden support. What it does is  expand the pool of candidates on the lists." He argued that former leader Korneliya Ninova and BSP had done their best to limit the party's support to one specific group of voters. No matter how big the BSP-led coalition is, it cannot evoke a sense that something new, strong and modern is happening in the left wing.

Finally, the analyst believes that everything possible will be done to form a government after the October 27 elections.

ECONOMY

Telegraph's front page focuses on the upcoming minimum wage increase from January 1, 2025, from BGN 933 to BGN 1,077. The daily calcinated that the increase would be enough for one loaf of bread and 200 grammes of cheese per day.

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24 Chasa writes that 10% of foreign workers in the Black Sea coast resort Sunny Beach have sought their fortune elsewhere and left the country. The article describes cases of workers recruited from abroad fleeing or at least attempting to flee Bulgaria and head for Europe. According to sources from the tourism industry, it is now common practice, at least when the contract of such workers expires, for them to leave for Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary or elsewhere in search of better working conditions. Three other foreign workers disappeared in the middle of summer without a trace from the Golden Sands resort and they still cannot be traced.

EDUCATION

Podkrepa Confederation of Labour representative Yulian Petrov told BNR that school rules are very conditional - for students and parents and are only binding for teachers. Any ban in school is a bit conditional. Very often the existing tools are not enforced because there are enough stumbling blocks. As of 2016, phones have been banned in class, he pointed out. According to Petrov, 20% of schools in Bulgaria collect pupils’ phones at the start of the school day and keep them in boxes, but he said that the practice is not effective. Teachers became a jack of all trades. Their duties exceeded all psychological limits, Petrov said.

"Young teachers, even up to 75%, fail to overcome the challenges and do not stay in their occupation. For many the profession does not meet their expectations. Teachers are in demand - over 1,000 nationwide. Overall, there's an outflow."

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Caretaker Minister of Education and Science Galin Tsokov commented on the morning programme of bTV the upcoming first school day, school renovations and digital school diaries. "The use of mobile phones in classrooms has been banned in the Pre-School and School Education Act since 2016. Many school regulations also prohibit the use of phones between classes and throughout the day," the minister said. "We are closely monitoring this process. We have developed a common vision for digitisation in education. The data from the latest PISA survey, which showed that a large percentage of Bulgarian students are distracted and inattentive in class - especially in math and science - because they use their phones, is worrying," the education minister explained, adding that sometimes more than 50% of students are distracted. Tsokov pointed out that major renovations are in the works at teh beginning of this school year. They total 1,100 and are the result of various programmes including the Recovery and Resilience Plan. In just over 100 schools, renovations will continue after September 16. Children from 23 schools will be studying in other buildings because it will not be safe for them to stay in the still-renovated facilities. The renovations are expected to be completed by early November, with the aim of getting children back into their classrooms as quickly as possible.

JUSTICE

On Nova TV’s morning show, Velislav Velichkov of the Justice for All initiative commented on the restart of the procedure for electing a prosecutor general. Such a restart is not right, he argued, because the term in office of the Supreme Judicial Council to do the electing expired two years ago. Furthermore, its current members are involved in big scandals. Velichkov forecast that a new prosecutor general will quickly be elected and used in the fight with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party. Velichkov called for the election of a new Supreme Judicial Council. Former acting prosecutor general Boyko Naydenov commented that it is not right for Supreme Jucidial Council members whose term in office has expired years ago, to make a decision to impact the whole society. A public explanation should be given about the manner in which the previous prosecutor general was appointed and removed, Naydenov argued.

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Nova TV’s morning show reports of a Bulgarian national in London sentenced to 18 months in prison for being involved in murder. Isay Stoyanov, 44, is one of seven men found guilty several days ago for the murder of Mehmet Koray Alpergin. Alpergin, 43, who owned a Turkish radio station in London, and his girlfriend, Gozde Dalbudak, were kidnapped in Tottenham back in October 2022; Alpergin was tortuted then killed. Stoyanov got the lightest sentence out of all defendants after it was established his role was only to cover up the evidence at the crime scene. It is believed that the crime is linked to the so-called band of Turks in Tottenham, north London, and the victim might have had information about money or drugs, Nova TV’s report said.