Maxim Behar: Political Unity Needed for Bulgaria’s Economic Growth

Maxim Behar and sociologist Kolyo Kolev discuss the Bulgarian political situation on the show "The Day ONAIR" on Bulgaria ONAIR TV, hosted by Viktor Dremsizov.

Host (Viktor Dremsizov): Good evening! "The Day ONAIR" begins. I am Viktor Dremsizov, and today, with the show's producer, Gergana Marinova, we are looking for answers to the important questions today. Can the upcoming elections lead to a stable government? The 50th National Assembly is coming to an end—what have the parties accomplished? Sociologist Kolyo Kolev and PR expert Maxim Behar are here to analyze. Welcome!

Maxim Behar: Good evening!

Host: Let's summarize: This parliament is resigning—what did the parties accomplish? Mr. Behar, if the parliament were a corporation, would it achieve its goals and tasks?

Maxim: Back to the first question—what has this parliament done during its term? The answer is straightforward and can be summed up as simply nothing. The party divisions, internal struggles within The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), and the unification of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) have nothing to do with the parliament. These are intra-party movements that would have happened sooner or later. The parliament achieved nothing because, yes, it is the legislative institution. Still, ultimately, its job is first to create good conditions for political life and activity and second to improve the economy. If we feel a crisis, it's not in politics or social life. Perhaps not even in culture—the theaters are full, concerts are everywhere. The crisis is in the economy. This economic crisis exists because Bulgaria is not moving forward, and if the parliament were a company, it would have long gone bankrupt and forgotten, probably trying to pay off its debts somewhere. When a company fails, it leaves behind debts, unpaid salaries, and unpaid services.

Host: Aren't the debts here owed to the voters?

Maxim: I would say these debts to the voters are imaginary. The election campaign indeed starts tomorrow, but from what we've seen so far, with all my boundless optimism, which you've known for years, I can't imagine that in the next 30 days, we will see a debate of economic concepts. I arrived from London an hour ago, where I had lunch in the House of Lords with friends running the entire communications campaign for the Labour Party. The night before, I had dinner with a man I hadn't met before—Graham Davies, handling the Conservative Party's campaign. I'm not making any comparisons because the UK and Bulgaria are far apart, especially in politics. I asked them what the differences are and what they are currently focused on—everything is about the economy. In England, there's no debate on the situation with Ukraine or the Israel-Palestine conflict—these topics are clear there. However, there is a significant difference in economic approaches. In Bulgaria, we had very high inflation for a year and a half. It has eased slightly now, but for a year and a half, we saw prices double and extreme pressure on wages and business payments, which completely changed our state and market. If we had competent parties and economists, they should focus on having a major discussion on what to do with the Bulgarian economy. Do we open it up? Because currently, it's closed. If a foreigner wants to work in Bulgaria, it will likely take a year of formalities. Meanwhile, Bulgaria lacks a workforce.

Host: So, what will the parties' economic strategy be now? Will they turn to the people or focus on their loyal voter core to secure votes? Will the strategy broaden, or will emotion guide us, Mr. Behar? Will there be a new approach?

Maxim: Personally, I don't believe emotions will guide the voting. The real problem is the low voter turnout in Bulgaria right now. This means people who want to engage in politics need clear, precise, concrete messages and a program that can be monitored. Because anyone can make promises—I too can promise double pensions and triple salaries, then hide in the parliament building, where it says "Unity makes strength," and after 6-8 months or a year, say it didn't happen. The economic battle will be crucial. We've seen the rift in DPS between Ahmed Dogan and Delyan Peevski. One has loyal followers; the other also has his followers. What's the difference? What are the messages of the two factions? How will they improve Bulgaria's economy? Tightening belts—why, and what will come of it? Or what changes should be made to improve business? A lot can be done. My favorite is better branding of Bulgaria abroad to attract more investors because some are already leaving. I don't know anyone who wouldn't vote for those who clearly, precisely, and reasonably explain how this can be done and provide a platform for accountability afterward. This is where the considerable disconnect between promises and accountability occurs, which demotivates many voters who don't see any difference in who they vote for.

Host: Is that why we see mayor nominations in leading party lists? Is this the other strategy—using recognizable faces who have proven themselves in their regions?

Maxim: I was a bit surprised by this because, as I heard, Boyko Borissov said that these candidates would run but not become MPs and would remain mayors instead. This is a cheap trick meant to attract more support because mayors are recognizable faces. For years, I've said a law should forbid an MP candidate from withdrawing once they've run. Every political party pulls this stunt.

Kolyo Kolev: The same trick with dual candidacies in two locations.

Maxim: Or two candidacies of the same representative. How can you run in Shumen and Smolyan at the same time? How? You want to be an MP, make laws, and decide things for Bulgaria and our people, the people here. You run in one place if you don't get elected - goodbye! Let someone else take over. But now we see mayoral candidates whose party leader says they'll remain mayors. This is such a blatant manipulation, and I'm extremely surprised. There should be a law regarding this. This loophole creates a lot of chaos in Bulgarian politics. We don't know who to vote for; moreover, if we vote for a party leader, the next day, they may say they won't be an MP. How is that allowed?

Host: How important is the weight of the leaders of the party lists if they will lead but not become MPs or if they're leading in multiple regions? Are there political offers, Mr. Behar, and can the parties offer anything different? We've seen a rotation-based cabinet, non-partisan, above-party. Is there another option?

Maxim: There are still possibilities for offers during this one month. By the way, in the last elections, there was a strange formation, if I'm not mistaken, called "Blue Bulgaria," which surprised me. Kolyo Yankov, a former deputy minister of the economy, and a few others around him had both a reasonable political and economic platform. They spoke very sensibly on screen. This shows what Kolyo Kolev said: Sometimes emotions take over because they fall entirely out of the game.

Host: Yes, they failed. Although they managed to succeed in Sofia, they couldn't on a national level.

Kolyo Kolev: They got 2%.

Maxim: I listened to them and thought, "These are the people I want to vote for—they can do something interesting." If something similar comes from a major political force with many followers, it could gather other parties around it and convince them not to have a patchwork government but a regular coalition, like in any healthy democracy. We all remember that over 1,000-page coalition agreement in Germany and how they negotiated for six months before implementing the program. Here, we don't need more than ten pages—there's no need to negotiate for months, but there must be clear economic goals. Look, if a family runs out of money, what kind of emotions or politics will we be talking about? Everyone will be thinking about how to make money. The same is true for Bulgaria right now—we're out of money, and we need sensible managers to step behind the facade of politicians and take Bulgaria to the European market in a dignified way so that our country can succeed. This is a big goal, by the way—it's a Bulgarian dream that is achievable, in my opinion.

Host: Finally, tell me, both of you, is there a way to achieve unity? GERB says that if they are the leading force, the second-, third-, and fourth-place parties should unite. Where does the breakdown in dialogue happen? Mr. Behar, is there a way out of this political hurricane?

Maxim: I believe there is a chance for the major political forces to come to an agreement around one goal. It's not just about the First and Second World Wars. In more recent history, the European Union in 2007 was also a national goal, NATO in 2004 as well, although fewer people understood it back then. Right now, we don't have a national goal that unites all Bulgarians, something they can believe in that, once achieved, will bring great prosperity. In my opinion, the big goal for Bulgaria should be for politicians to tame their egos a bit, come down to earth, and think about how to fix the situation. Both GERB and "We Continue the Change," and even BSP—despite their push for more state control—could find common ground, possibly even with some of the DPS members. They should sign an agreement and stick to it. No one is in such a dire situation that they can't contribute. Everyone loses when there is no consensus.

Host: They have one month to convince us who to vote for, so time is ticking.

Maxim: You remember the last elections—everyone ended up in the red. In these elections, they'll end up even further behind if they don't find common ground.

Host: We'll see what happens. Thank you very much for this analysis on "The Day ONAIR"!

Watch the full interview here.