Hello Bulgaria, hello crisis of Bulgarian government
#71
Dear Friends of Democracy,
Here is a brief update on our journey through southeast Europe.
On Monday, we crossed the overwhelmingly large stream Danube (by train) and entered Bulgaria by the city of Vidin (see video above).
But we not only said hello to Bulgaria but to the governmental crisis there!
Mariya Gabriel was about to become Bulgaria's next Prime Minister. On Monday, she withdrew her nomination after two weeks of tortuous negotiations between her centre-right GERB party and the reformist anti-corruption alliance of We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria in what was supposed to be an agreed-upon government rotation.
So, it could be that after five elections in two years, the sixth will follow soon. What sounds terrible is perhaps a necessary and clarifying process.
In 2020 and 2021, a protest movement emerged as a culmination of long-standing grievances against endemic corruption and state capture, particularly associated with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s government, which has been in power since 2009.
As a result, the electoral alliance We Continue the Change aroused and later became a centrist, anti-corruption political party.
We Continue the Change is now in a governmental coalition with Borisov‘s party, GERB, which explains most of the tensions.
And since the government’s main task is (or now was?) to develop a constitutional reform, especially in the judiciary, Bulgaria's future seems uncertain.
How To Save Democracy: When you look at the broader picture, a lot has changed in Bulgaria for the better. Think of the significant transformation over the past three decades from a highly centralized, planned economy to an open, market-based, upper-middle-income economy securely anchored in the EU. So, democracy is established in Bulgaria. And since democracy is essentially a competition for the best political ideas, why shouldn't these best ideas find a majority among Bulgarians?
See you in democracy 💛,
Johannes Eber