Whatever it is, remember me with good… There is such a refrain. It is life-related, but not only. It can also be political. DPS – whatever it is, remember me with good. Why? Because there is a “new beginning“. Whatever that means at this moment. Only time will tell. But one thing is clear – DPS is not the DPS that created whether Ahmed Dogan or not other forces at the beginning of the transition, as we like to say. DPS had its strong moments over the years, it had its “good causes“, dressed in a well-proclaimed campaign in parliament. DPS was an “inevitable“ factor, as Dogan liked to say, because it distributes the portions in power. But… Like everything in life – has a beginning, development and an end.
Dogan's DPS built its beginning, developed, and did Delyan Peevski put an end to it…
We'll see. At the moment, the end is dressed in the slogan “a new beginning“. For whom? How will it happen? How long will it last? The future will tell. But! The fact is that in less than six months Delyan Peevski took control of the DPS. At least according to his associates. First he split the party, then he ran for elections, took 30 parliamentary seats, took its brand, and finally the delegates to the National Conference of the DPS, which Peevski ordered to be convened immediately after the vote, elected him as the sole chairman. That was one thing. The second was even more striking - the lifelong honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan, who had built a position even above the party itself, because he could make unilateral decisions, was expelled. The post of "honorary chairman" is no more. The "Dogan" era in the MRF is over. As the new US president Donald Trump likes to say - you are fired. So it is with Ahmed Dogan - he was somehow politically fired from the MRF. And, yes, it is good to remember that the MRF forum, convened by Delyan Peevsik, was on the date on which 35 years ago the political prisoner Medi Doganov (Ahmed Dogan) was released from prison. Just symbolism, somehow.
Now the people around Dogan are regretting, challenging the legitimacy of the forum, showing resistance, but the facts show that they are losing sympathizers, voters and already prepared personnel.
The MRF is no longer the same MRF, but something... new. Yes, Peevski himself is showing that he is strong, but is that enough? The new leader of the MRF feels comfortable among his party members, but only there. On the political scene, he faces the worst - he is unwanted!
Internal and external isolation
In our country, the parties in parliament are uniting around a “sanitary cordon“. We have a cabinet, and the BSP and the ITN have accepted the “cordon“. Thus, the “new” MRF is clearly indicated as an unwanted partner. How long will a party, placed in total isolation, last like this… At the same time, politicians from other parties do not fail to constantly remind that Peevski has been sanctioned for corruption by the USA and Great Britain. The isolation in domestic politics and Europe is obvious, despite Peevski's attempts to present himself as a defender of Euro-Atlanticism and European values.
How did the MRF forum go?
Only the two major unions, the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (KITUB) and the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (KT) "Podkrepa", sent representatives, but no political party sent its people. If we go back to the MRF conference in February, it was attended by people from GERB, BSP, former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha sent a congratulatory address, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined in with a video address. Now Ankara has accounted for one MP and a welcoming address from an expatriate organization, and the international presence was limited to low-ranking diplomats from the Arab world and Africa. The Chief Mufti Mustafa Hadji, with whom Peevski met several times, also did not come. The European family of liberals, of which MRF is a member, also ignored the forum.
Euractiv recently reported that, according to ALDE Secretary General Didrik de Schetzen, ALDE parties welcome the imposition of a “sanitary cordon“ around Peevski. The Liberal Network of Southeast Europe (LIBSEEN) excluded Peevski's MRF from its membership and called on ALDE to do the same. Peevski replied that his party was leaving ALDE itself because “The new beginning for MRF is not compatible with belonging to ALDE and the “Renew Europe” group, because they are “… an ossified liberal model of long-gone years“.
What path can we expect from MRF as a “new beginning“, since they are strong, but alone…