Ivan Takov is withdrawing from the race for BSP chairman, the BSP-Sofia press center announced.
"Well-structured collective bodies are much more important than who will be the chairman of the party, he said".
The chairman of the BSP - Sofia City Council Ivan Takov is withdrawing from the race for BSP chairman. He was one of the 16 candidates for the top leadership position of the socialist party. At the upcoming 51st BSP Congress, which will be held on February 15 and 16, delegates will decide how the election will be conducted. There are two options - to confirm the decision of the National Council from last Saturday and for the new chairman to be elected at the Congress or to schedule a direct election on February 23. As is known, at the City Conference of the BSP - Sofia in mid-December, the delegates adopted a decision by which they categorically opposed the direct election of the BSP chairman.
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for each of the nominations I received, said Ivan Takov. I accept them as an assessment of the work we have done over the past 3 years in Sofia. We still have a lot of work to do. After the City Conference last December, at which the delegates voted for me with great confidence, I have a great responsibility to them. Now I have a full mandate of 4 years ahead of me and I want to finish what we have started. After stabilizing the City Organization, we are faced with the task of expanding its influence. To fully develop the ideas we are working on in Sofia. Thanks to the principles and our left-wing policies, we have shattered the myth that the capital is a "blue fortress" and we have shown that there is a great desire to change the way the city is governed. And in the early parliamentary elections last October, we increased support for the BSP and the number of people's representatives from Sofia.
We have made a good start. We have focused on specific social groups that the socialist party is called to represent. We have shown a coalition culture and have proven that the only right path in politics is to be together, united by socialist ideas.
Ivan Takov noted that the situation in which the BSP is currently finds itself assigns the next chairman of the party a rather transitional role.
"I in no way underestimate or belittle this role. But in the transitional period in which the party is, the function of the chairmen in the localities is extremely important, he noted. The strengthening of the BSP in the regions depends on their work. This is precisely the first and most important task facing our party after the Congress. With their work, they will have to help the new chairman. When our party is fundamentally strong, when we have active structures in places, then we will be able to guarantee effective national leadership".
According to the chairman of the socialists in Sofia, the presence of so many quality candidates with different profiles for the highest party post shows that the BSP still has strong forces.
There is something for us to build on as a party, said Ivan Takov.
"I know each of the candidates very well and respect them. And I would support the one who has a goal and a plan for the recovery of the BSP. And can unite the left. The strength of our party has always been that it is not a leader, but has a chairman of the National Council. We have an unbearable amount of examples and evidence to the contrary in recent years. In this sense, well-structured collective bodies are much more important than who will be the chairman. Yes, the figure of the chairman is important, but in a well-functioning party, it is not of decisive importance. I believe that the delegates of the upcoming Congress will make the right decisions for the future of the BSP".