Rumen Petkov in front of FACTS: The changes in the Constitution returned Borisov to power with all his might

The June 9 elections showed that the left political space is in a crisis that is deepening. We also saw the resignation of the BSP leader, but will that change anything. Rumen Petkov, leader of the "ABV" party, part of the "Left" coalition, spoke to FAKTI.

- Mr. Petkov, is there an end to the pain on the left…
- The pain on the left side is great and it is the result of years of internal and external factors. But here I want to thank all the people who still supported us, because it shows that the left exists. It may be smaller, fragmented, but it is there. And otherwise, this result that we got actually took the left out of active politics and made it clear that without an active dialogue, based on respect and respect for policies, and not on noise, the left has no way of developing. It will be buried for years, decades to come as it happened in Hungary, Poland and other Eastern European countries. So I hope this result has a sobering effect. At least we - in the “Left”, as we have stated throughout the period, are ready for a dialogue that will find a solution, and not to advance leadership ambitions. The left needs a dialogue that must be devoid of lies, because when someone comes out and says "… we invited everyone“, and he didn't invite anyone, this sounds not only stupid and demotivating, but also discredits the author of the lie. The dialogue, some of it probably shouldn't be public, is overdue. But if we want to show the socially engaged citizens on the left that their participation in the public life of the country has a perspective, we all on the left need to have a constructive conversation.

- We saw two resignations after the vote. To Hristo Ivanov and to Cornelia Ninova, who is resigning for the third time. What will be different in BSP now…
- The questions about the BSP and Ninova are the questions of the BSP. It is simply not proper for us to comment and interfere in the internal affairs of another party.

- Then let me expand the question a bit. After her third resignation, can we talk about a new common conversation for the left. Just this resignation will change anything…
- Let them make their way for a new leader election, because I do not rule out Cornelia Ninova again running for party leader. In “The Left” we are convinced that there must be a very serious renewal of the representation of the left formations if we want it to really develop. Right now, after the election, we see a clear message that has been broadcast by the citizens, and it is one of resentment, of bitterness, of feeling that they have been used, that they have been lied to in recent years. In “The Left” each of us is an active enough participant in public life and we will continue with clear actions to participate in politics because this path is inevitable. It has its advantages, it certainly has its question marks, but I want to repeat that the dialogue and finding the solution for a common path is something mandatory if we want the political formations on the left to convince the public that they have a perspective.

- During the campaign you had a lot of conversations with people, but did they actually understand what you were telling them to get this result?
- The result of the “Left“ is disastrous and that is beyond doubt. And I think there are three dimensions here. One is the suggestion that we have been hearing for more than three, three and a half years from various analysts that the outcome of an election is predetermined. The second implication is that, you see, a Euro-Atlantic perspective for Bulgaria is only available through carriers in the form of GERB-SDS, DPS and PP-DB, but none of them have explained what they mean by Euro-Atlantic values. Because, in our opinion – in the “Left”, the highest value is peace. And the other side only talks about war. For war, but without commenting on death, without commenting on the number of victims. The third implication is that, you see, September or October we're going to have another election, so don't bother going now. Yes, the split in the left is a fact, which was also caused by external factors, and this disturbed many voters in Sofia, Ruse, Plovdiv region, etc. But all this shows us that a solid first step is needed to consolidate the left. Unfortunately, it was crashed in a rather ugly way during the campaign.

- When you voted, you said that you were voting for Bulgaria and the Bulgarians. And what did they get after we see the results of the vote?
- I'm afraid that very soon we will feel what we got. First, we got the feeling that 65% of Bulgarians are bitter, offended and socially disengaged. I don't want to delve into the anomaly that in our country voting is mandatory according to the law. And we have 65% of citizens who accepted the law on June 9. And nothing will come of that, of course. Why, after trampling on the Electoral Act, should we expect to obey the Road Traffic Act, the Indoor Smoking Act and so on. We make laws, which we then break with extreme enthusiasm, and apparently quite successfully. I don't expect to see good things from what we got, because we witnessed some ridiculous changes in the Constitution, the only result of which is that Borisov returned to power three months ago with all his might. The changes to the Constitution, of which it is clear that a large part of them will fall in court, clearly showed the ridiculousness, the incompetence of people who were a political construct, a political project - I emphasize a thick project, not a party, who lived from it and on it relied on to compete for public trust. Last but not least, I must mention our participation in the war. We have become complicit in the war by inviting Kosovo to the Parliamentary Assembly of the NATO Council, which is a very serious blow to security in the region. Kosovo is a permanent source of military tension, and I'm not just talking about ethnic and other clashes here. That is, what we will receive after these elections, we will receive in very severe forms. One of them will reflect tomorrow also on our place in the Slavic community, another on our place in the Orthodox community. Bulgaria is facing enormous difficulties, which those 65% who did not vote are probably aware of, as well as a large part of the remaining 35% who voted.