I am happy that we finally have any kind of regular government, because at one point we had brought it to the point that we either had to have 100 caretaker governments one after the other, or finally someone would form a majority. This was said in the program "Metronome" on Radio "Focus" by the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Nikolay Vassilev.
"If I have three main groups of criteria by which I would judge whether a government should be supported or not, the first is: is it pro-Western – I would answer that despite the colorful coalition, yes. Secondly, is it reformist – here I would say maybe not or insufficiently, or we have not yet understood what it will do at all. And the third is is it anti-corruption – for the moment I do not have a definitive positive answer. But still it is good that there is a government, and it is a pity that there are not more women in it.“
According to him, the ideological differences between the partners in the coalition behind the "Zhelyazkov“ cabinet are smaller than they were in Stanishev's Triple Coalition. In the current government, the more extreme ideologies or desires have been blunted and there are rather centripetal forces, which will probably be at the expense of major reforms, he pointed out. According to him, the government has a large group of ministers who have quite serious experience in politics, and according to him, the choice of parties should have fallen more on experts in the relevant fields, rather than on well-known political figures.
"I am more worried that at the moment this will be another government without a program and ideas on what will be done in the various departments. The agreement is written in such a way that there is nothing contradictory in it, and accordingly there is almost nothing interesting in it,“ stated Nikolay Vassilev.
One of the big challenges facing the government is drawing up the budget for 2025, and according to the expert, the first task is to bring the deficit within 3%. "Minus 3% deficit is a bad strategy. For me, the real goal is to bring the budget into surplus, i.e. to have no deficit. For me, fiscal policy should be completely reversed, spending should be reduced so that the state spends below 40% of GDP, as it was throughout the Transition, when we were always at 30 or so percent. And I also see no reason for a deficit, since there is no specific war, pandemic, natural disaster, recession, refugee or migrant wave in the country. There is none of the problems that would determine the need for a deficit,“ he is categorical.
Nikolai Vassilev is of the opinion that 20% fewer people should work in the state administration, as fewer people will do a better job. "For me, both in the European Commission, and in the bureaucracy of most countries around the world, and in Bulgaria, if the administration is cut by tens of percent, it will work better. It's just that when reforms are not made, processes get bogged down. There are entire structures that I don't know exactly whether they are working enough. In the powerlessness of 10 caretaker governments, most of the administration is waiting like frightened rabbits and not doing enough work because no one is telling them where the country should be moving.“
In recent years, politicians in Bulgaria have become fixated on judicial reform, on constitutional reform, on certain political figures, which has not yet led to any positive development. "Usually staring at one tree in front of you certainly does not allow you to see the whole forest and have a vision and strategy for the country. For me, the last few years have been quite empty, disappointing, and Bulgaria has missed out on huge opportunities and trains that Croatia, Romania and others have boarded with such pleasure.“