The left parties in Bulgaria have become too many – the situation is “many voivodes, few Chetniks”. This is what he said in the show “This morning” on bTV the MEP and former prime minister of the country Sergey Stanishev about the lists for the upcoming European and national elections.
„May Day is always an optimistic day for left-wing people. In principle, the left is optimistic – the ideology of the left is related to changing the world for the better, for it to be fairer, for the rights of every person to be protected, for working conditions to be good, as well as incomes. These are causes that concern every single Bulgarian, he explained. According to him, if you look at the reality, it is not so optimistic, given the upcoming elections. He recalled that a month ago he publicly addressed all the left-wing parties, which had become too many, that “the only chance for a decent representation of the left in the European elections is a broad center-left union”.
Sergei Stanishev reported with regret that this “exam was not passed by the left leaders”. “As they say in our country: “many voivodes, few Chetniks”. See what's happening now – there are four left-wing lists for the elections, which are fighting for the votes of the Bulgarians. It may turn out that these four lists will fight for 3 mandates out of 17 in the European Parliament. This is very sad“, he explained.
According to him, the European elections are fateful, but they will be “overshadowed by the ugly national campaign, which does not carry any vision for the future”. He said he would not participate in today's left-wing meeting, which was initiated by BSP leader Kornelia Ninova. “First she said that none of the current MEPs are standing. Second – obviously, after she ordered her own list for the elections, she is clearly chasing not five, but six European mandates,”, he explained.
He noted the mistakes in Bulgarian politics – there is no vision for the future, language of hatred is used daily, there is no cross-party dialogue and national consensus. “I have no illusions that I will be nominated by the current leadership of the BSP for part of the Eurolist, because more than once since 2018 I have expressed my criticism openly, and this is being punished today. I am confident that I have done a good job in the EP. "I recently saw a sociological survey that I am one of the two MEPs with the highest trust among voters," Stanishev replied to a question about his political future.