The BSP is a 134-year-old party, it has a rich historical past, inextricably linked to the history of the state. It has a present, but it also has a future. And it is up to us together to lead the BSP to this new future.
This was said by Kaloyan Pargov – candidate for chairman of the BSP, during the presentation of his Program address, which is under the motto “Justice in Action“.
The event was attended by President Georgi Parvanov, the chairman of the BSP – Sofia Ivan Takov, Assoc. Prof. Valentin Vatsev, Prof. Vanya Dobreva, Prof. Zahari Zahariev, Prof. Dimitar Ivanov, Prof. Svetlana Sharekova, the representatives of the coalition partners from “BSP – United Left“ Alexander Paunov, Alexander Tomov, Vasil Tochkov, the chairman of the Union of Thracian Societies Karisimir Premyanov, the world boxing champion Kubrat Pulev and others.
„Compliance with the statute, compliance with the program, compliance with our decisions is key for there to be justice. That is the title of my program address - Justice in Action“, explained Pargov and added that it is focused on global transformations, concerning both national problems and party ones.
„In the BSP, this discussion has always been very strong, very stormy, very meaningful, but it seems that in recent years we have abandoned it“, he pointed out.
According to him, the time of these transformations imposes a different agenda, not only for Europe, but also for Bulgaria and in particular for the BSP as part of Bulgaria. “It would be smart and sensible to feel the breeze of the wind, and this time, believe me, it is blowing in our sails and we must direct them so that the wind inflates them and takes us out to the open sea“, said Kaloyan Pargov.
For him, it was important to first hear the opinion of the party members in the country, their proposals and views, and only then to gather them on the pages of this Program Address.
“A very important element of this document is that the BSP is an intellectual party. “Who, if not the BSP, should support culture? The BSP was the most intellectual party, as if today we have de-intellectualized ourselves. I am not talking about de-ideologization, but about de-intellectualization. We lack enough expertise“, believes the candidate for party chairman.
He also shared his views on the future of the left in Bulgaria: “A United Left can be the beginning and in this coalition it can become an even deeper, cohesive and narrow union, uniting the resources of all left parties, of course, as independent legal entities, but with joint management and use of these resources“.
Assoc. Prof. Valentin Vatsev stated that he would support Kaloyan Pargov as the chairman of the BSP and highlighted three reasons why it is worth voting for him.
“First, he is a consensus candidate, which means that he already has great influence and will continue to have great influence as chairman, and the party is in dire need of suppressing tribalism. Like any party in crisis, the BSP is torn apart by tribal battles - these are tribes that do not understand each other, do not hear each other, do not communicate. At such congresses, tribes usually clash. I have not detected a single sign of tribalism in Kaloyan Pargov, and I have known him for many years. He is a non-tribal candidate for chairman of the party and for leader. Tribalism is a very big problem of our party. I hope that he will help solve this problem in real time, and not in the future“, Assoc. Prof. was categorical. Vatsev.
Secondly, he pointed out that fate and history have destined the BSP to be a continentalist left-wing party. “I have not detected a single sign of Atlanticism in Kaloyan Pargov. Most likely, guided by the logic of the situation and development, he will be a continentalist chairman when he becomes one“, believes Valentin Vatsev.
“Today, Kaloyan is in a situation of intellectual superiority over all the other, respectable of course, candidates for chairman of the party. I wish him success. I wish him to remain a consensual, but not a compromising candidate. Consensus unites the common. I wish him to find the right path to the continentalist future of the BSP, and not the Atlantic past, which I hope is going away“, said Assoc. Prof. in conclusion. Vatsev.
President Georgi Parvanov (2002 - 2012) said in his speech: “Kaloyan and I are too often on the field together – we play football and play on the same team. We are usually in the attack and I haven't counted who scored more goals, that wasn't the important thing. For us, it's important that there was interaction and truly team play“.
He recalled that there was a time when the BSP returned to the game and started winning elections after elections and finally all elections and at one point all the authorities were in the hands of the party. He pointed out that now the left forces in Bulgaria should not justify themselves only by the fact that the European left, the social democratic left, above all, is in a deep ideological crisis.
„This justification does not work for us. We really need to return to the positions we were in and win the trust of the people“, said Georgi Parvanov.
„That's how we did it back then, I believe that young people like Kaloyan, like Ivan Takov, and here I see many others, will be able to do it better than we did back then. "I hope that after what lies ahead of us over the weekend, I believe that the disputes will be ideological and we will emerge from the Congress more united and consolidated," wished President Parvanov.