site.btaMedia Review: October 4

DHZEYHAN IBRYAMOV’S ARREST

Media outlets continue to cover the detention of MP candidate Dzheyhan Ibryamov, whose immunity was lifted by Parliament Chair Raya Nazaryan and the Central Election Commission after he was suspected of vote-buying by the authorities. Ibryamov is top-of-the-list candidate of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms [ARF] in the northeastern city of Shumen. ARF is formed around supporters of Movement for Rights and Freedoms Honorary Chairman Ahmed Dogan after the latter’s rift with MRF Chairman Delyan Peevski. 

Mediapool: MRF-Dogan MP Dzheyhan Ibryamov was arrested on suspicion of corruption and his immunity was lifted. A formal arraignment and possible request for his permanent detention is pending. 

In recent hours, the prosecutor's office, the anti-corruption commission, the parliament and the Central Election Commission have been involved in this story. The latter two institutions had to rule on Ibryamov's immunity because he had double immunity - as a member of parliament and as a candidate. Permission was granted, but the documents sent to the media revealed curious details about witnesses and investigators' actions.

The decision of Parliament's Chair Raya Nazaryan makes it clear that the prosecution service has questioned several witnesses. Among them is a man named Miroslav Todorov, from whom it is alleged that Ibryamov demanded a BGN 200,000 bribe to "exert influence in decision-making by officials" from the Defence Ministry. 

On 2 October, in a store parking lot in Sofia, the MP took BGN 100,000, investigators claim.

Todorov's name is mentioned in Nazaryan's decision, and the document itself was sent to the media late Thursday evening. At first glance, the personal details are covered with black tape, but when the text is copied, the marking disappears and the name becomes visible, i.e. it is most likely a technical error. According to media reports in recent weeks, a man with the same name has been charged with VAT fraud through fictitious transactions involving the sale and purchas of grain. The document shows that several other people have been questioned, including an inspector from the anti-corruption commission. 

In addition, special intelligence means were also used in the case, but it remains unclear what was discovered.

Those close to Ahmed Dogan continue to claim that what is happening to Ibryamov is a set-up. The MP's wife, Birshen Ibryamova, who is the long-time secretary of the Honorary Chairman, announced that she was going on hunger strike until her husband is released.

24 Chassa: The arrested MP, Dzheyhan Ibryamov, was taken to the Interior Ministry's hospital Thursday night for medical exams with stomach problems. His wife Birshen Ibryamova met with him and said that he was unwell but in stable condition. She has no information whether he is still in the hospital or has already been returned to custody.

After seeing her husband, she returned in front of Parliament to continue her hunger strike whihch she started to protest her husband's arrest.

Ibryamova told the media that she expects her husband to be released from custody on Saturday, when the 72 hour arrest expires.

Trud’s headline reads: Prosecution Office Charges Ibryamov with Trading in Influence. The newspaper writes that the MP candidate is to be also charged with vote-buying. 

bTV quotes MRF Chairman Dzhevdet Chakarov, who is loyal to Ahmed Dogan, as describing the recent arrests of MRF functionaries, including Ibryamov, as "repression" and the result of the "captured State". 

He announced that because of the tension, the MRF faction around Ahmed Dogan will demand the cancellation of the upcoming October 27 snap parliamentary elections. He said however, that they are yet to consult with lawyers and constitutionalists on this matter. 

MRF Chairman Chakarov hopes the issue will be raised at the meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security with President Rumen Radev on Friday.

ELECTIONS

Dnevnik: According to a Market Links poll, commissioned by bTV, if elections were held today six parties will enter the future 51st National Assembly, but There Is Such a People will not be among them.

According to the polling agency, GERB would win the parliamentary elections convincingly with 23.1% of those who firmly resolved to vote. However, the second place will be highly contested. A total of 14.1% respondents said they would vote for Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria and 13.3% for Vazrazhdane.

The two wings of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms )MRF) will also manage to secure seats in the future parliament. The Alliance for Rights and Freedoms of MRF's Honorary Chairman Ahmed Dogan will be the fourth political force with 8.4%, while MRF - New Beginning of Delyan Peevski is two percentage points behind. According to Market Links, the last party that will surely enter Parliament is the Bulgarian Socialist Party with 5.3%.

TV show host-turned politician Stanislav Trifonov's TISP party will not be able to pass the 4% threshold for entering Parliament with only 3.4% of respondents having declared their support for them. Velichie [Grandeur] remains behind TISP with just 0.2 percentage points. 

Just over 12% of respondents said they were still undecided on who they would vote for, while 2.4% said they did not support anyone [which is an option on the ballot]. Dobromir Zhivkov of Market Links explained that those who are undecided about whom to vote for may influence the final outcome of the elections. He added that he did not expect GERB's result to be higher than the one in the poll. He also said that at the moment there is no mobilization around MRF - New Beginning.

A total of 48% of respondents said that the bought and controlled vote discouraged them from voting. And 55% expect more controlled and bought vote in these elections.

“Six Parties in Parliament, TISP on the Brink,” reads Bulgarian National Radio’s headline. 

ECONOMY 

NOVA TV: The freezing of Toplofikatsiya Sofia, the capital's heating utility's bank accounts by the Ministry of Energy and Bulgargaz will not affect consumers, says lawyer Nezret Babuchev. When people pay, the revenue from the bill goes to the creditor in the enforcement case. And the creditor, Bulgargaz, is ready to take action to reschedule the debt of Toplofikatsiya Sofia. He pointed out that the debt will have to be paid and most likely the amount will be covered by the State, i.e. - by the taxpayers.

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Capital: The free replacement of polluting heating appliances in 77 thousand homes with new eco-stoves and air conditioners begins across 21 cities. It is financed with BGN 610 million  under Operational Programme Environment, and the Ministry of Environment has noticed a great interest from the citizens.

However, appeals will delay deliveries and the new appliances will probably not be in use until next winter, the newspaper summarizes the topic.

SOCIETY 

Dnevnik runs a signed commentary by Evgeni Kunev, quoted from his Facebook profile. 

"My morning starts with two investment news. First, I receive a reply from a large American company about (not planning) an investment in Bulgaria:

"We currently do not have strategic plans for expansion specifically into Bulgaria. However, if the target has a broader regional presence that includes Bulgaria, we might be open to exploring. A company focused mainly on the Bulgarian market would be less aligned with our interests at this time."

Shortly after I read that a major Canadian gold mining company is pulling out of Bulgaria, selling its business to a Turkish holding company.

That's right - the slide, or rather a plunge, into the East with the increasingly dominant Soviet-Oriental culture in the public sphere is leaving its mark on the type of investments that are coming into the country.

And most typical of this culture is the relative nature of the concept of "integrity" - which, like shagreen hyde, is shrinking daily in our country.

And there isn't a prosperous country in the world where integrity is not a leading value. Integrity gives peace of mind that you are doing the right thing, it elevates the spirit, it warms the heart.

Integrity is the thing by which we not only earn the respect of others, but it also gives us self-esteem for our own self-worth; by which we make our choices at the micro-community level on how to spend our lives; by which we plan our actions against unpleasant surprises. 

Integrity is the code of the aristocrats of spirit, honest and noble people.

It precisely the integrity that is leaving Bulgaria like a scorched earth that has brought us to the present moment. Declining integrity shrinks contacts and multiplies dividing lines in society, reduces transactions in the economy, pumps up poverty, widens the gap between the rulers and those ruled, breeds mistrust in all things public, makes neighbors enemies.

The lack of integrity has given birth to so many false heros with fictional roles in the public domain whose ultimate goal is to sit "at the budget table" by deceiving their hosts.

The problem is not just that it's getting harder and harder for people to sniff them out and realize what's happening only after the table has been empied out in desecration. It's that more and more people are also voting to sit, if not at the table, then to at least push through someone who will toss them something [from the table], if not a piece of bread, then at least a crumb.

And things won't get better until people learn to distinguish the honest from the crooks. Until they learn to make honorable choices because they choose to be honorable. Until they choose the slow but sure path to the good life instead of surviving today by voting for thugs, crooks and thieves.

Only if we choose those honest and integrity can we hope for a good life.