Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
"Do you know who I am?!" - this is the line Ahmed Dogan sends to a policeman who warns him to leave the property in Boyana, known as “Sarai” - or he will be taken out. And in the end, he was taken out at night together with deputies and activists from his formation, which lost the rights to the name “DPS”. Dogan's best student - Peevski, who also raided the party with his unforgiving "new beginning" pinned it on his lapel.
The midnight action is not just an attempt to symbolically return Dogan, who lived in the luxurious residence at 56 "Star Belovodski Pat" Str. for 23 years. On Facebook, his party members announced that "Ahmed Dogan and the MRF have returned to their home and are holding a meeting of the National Council of the Youth MRF". He himself is quoted as saying: "The Youth MRF brought me back to life!". The goal is to mobilize dwindling supporters, as mayors and structures switch to "MPS-New Beginning", and to restart or transform what is left of the former Movement for Rights and Freedoms. The chances of success, however, are not great.
Farewell to "Sarai"
“Sarai”, as the monastery was known, was not just an expensive property in a luxurious metropolitan district, it was a symbol of a shadow institution, a metaphor for untouchability and power behind the scenes, guarded by the NSO and the gendarmerie and with its own checkpoint. Together with its long-time inhabitant, declared the lifelong leader of the MRF, they were part of political mythology. The peacocks in the courtyard were an element of the luxury and mystique surrounding Dogan and the residence.
To “Sarai” he invited the active members of the MRF, made selections for mayors and deputies, distributed rations, removed leaders and promoted others. He also gave speeches that became the subject of political hermeneutics, with a search for codes and hidden meaning, generally read as messages from a priest in a trance.
Without the properties in Boyana and Rosenets, which he was forced to leave, Dogan lost both his brilliance and his mystique. The myth of his untouchability was destroyed. After his former partner Danail Papazov announced in August last year that the two residences belonged to the companies “Delta Epsilon“ and “Hermes Solar”, of which he is the owner, and that the honorary chairman must leave them, Dogan's supporters gathered in Boyana again. But in the end, they could not prevent the release of the complex, which has a restaurant, conference hall, apartments and whose main building is categorized as a hotel and is a representative home of the association of municipalities “Tolerance”. Ahmed Dogan's eviction from the property in Saraite officially ended on August 30, 2024 with an entry in the Commercial Register. And Dogan used them as his home.
No return
Yesterday's action with the entry into “Saraiite“ of a hundred people - deputies and representatives of the youth wing of the MRF, was supposed to enthuse the supporters around Dogan, who are thinning out due to the transfer to “DPS-New Beginning”. Also to show whose side Dogan is on, after it became known that several factions had formed in the parliamentary group of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (APS).
Therefore, both photos and videos of the event were distributed on social networks, with Ahmed Dogan being the central figure in them. His public appearance - the first since the elections in October last year - was also among the goals of Saturday's maneuver due to persistent rumors that the 71-year-old founding father of the MRF is unable to deal with the operational management of the party.
The decisions of the National Council of the Youth MRF confirm the stated goals: support for the leadership of Dogan and the chairmanship of Dzhevdet Chakarov, insistence on a review of participation in the government and an appeal to the deputies whose immunities have been requested (Ceyhan Ibryamov and Mario Rangelov, b.a.) to voluntarily waive them. Thus, the MRF-DPS will not be “hostage to someone's private interests” by supporting the government. “This will be a real sign of the will for change and responsibility to society, but also of courage and empathy for every mayor, member and sympathizer of the MRF who stands against the “Peevski” model and the state bludgeons”, the declaration says.
With its actions, the Youth MRF positions itself as the guardian of the “true MRF”, i.e. that of peaceful transition, liberal democracy, Euro-Atlanticism. This classic rhetoric was used during the internal party split - a return to “the roots” under the banner of the charismatic founder, who is being called back into the party leadership not as an honorary, but as an operational leader. (In a declaration, the Youth MRF-Sliven, for example, announced it as the “Return of Inspiration”.)
In addition, it demonstrates that it is precisely the “young people” - as bearers of moral superiority, who have the right to insist on change through reorganization of party structures and personnel reshuffles. However, will all these requests stop the process of switching mayors, municipal councilors and structures loyal to Dogan to “DPS-New Beginning”? In April alone, the mayors of Kubrat, Isperih, Zavet, Loznitsa - from the Razgrad region that remained loyal to Dogan, switched to Peevski's camp, along with the mayor of Silistra, elected with a patriotic list.
The test failed
The action in “Sarai” seemed to be a test for the ruling party of DPS-DPS. As Dzhevdet Chakarov pointed out, none of the partners in power reacted to the “unprecedented actions of the police”, which interrupted a party meeting organized at the invitation of the honorary chairman. “Young girls aged 18-20 were pushed, pulled, hit. The police were not provoked in any way”, he said.
This gave Chakarov reason to once again question the party's support for the ruling majority, promising that it would be “very seriously” and “without compromise” reconsidered. He has said it more than once and it has not happened yet - despite the dissatisfaction of the party's active members and the lack of real positions in the executive branch.
They did not hit the mark with the symbolic meeting in “Sarai”. There in October 2008 Dogan's chief of staff, Ahmed Emin, committed suicide. The development of the "Liani" services, aimed at the "black boxes" of the MRF and corruption schemes involving high-ranking government officials, was also "buried" there.
“Do you know who I am?!” is no longer a demonstration of power. It's a descent down the ladder.