PM Boyko Borissov announced “major changes” to answer protests. Actually, he doubled down on holding on to power as long as he can
As promised earlier this week, PM Boyko Borissov announced today the “major changes”, which would “calm the people”. When Borissov first said something significant is in the works, many were expecting he would be resigning instead. The cryptic clue at least communicated as much: Borissov will not be resigning soon. It spoke to his growing unwillingness to let go of power – an unwillingness, which over the past month has reached pathological proportions – a factor, which itself only fuels protesters’ demands for Borissov and his government to step down. If today’s 13-minute speech could be summarized in a single message, it is this: Not only will I not resign, I will do what I can to keep in power as long as possible – hopefully longer than the current mandate provides.
Antigovernment protests are happening across the country (and beyond – Bulgarians living abroad have organized demonstrations supporting the protests in many cities across Europe and North America) and nearing their 40-th day. The protesters are sticking to two main demands: resignation of the entire government and Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. Throughout the period, Borissov has made several attempts to calm protesters with less, apparently hoping they would meet him half way. He removed ministers, spent incredible amounts of public money for giveaways to targeted groups to secure support, and bombarded the public space with an all-in array of PR to convince his government should carry out its full term, because otherwise the country would “collapse”. But the protests have not budged an inch from their original demands: anything other than the two resignations has till now not moved protesters at all. If anything, it motivated them further.
There are a few important aspects of the speech, aside from what Borissov actually proposes in it. The first two-thirds of it were purely political, and as such revealed some key points regarding his stance on the political crisis. First, he painted “the young” as a group, which has good intentions but was apparently tricked by “the oligarchy”, who in turn had “hijacked” their protest. It is unclear who Borissov views as the “oligarchy” but his personal and professional ties to it is what protesters define as the main reason for the seed rooted corruption in the country and the crucial element of the captured state. Second, Borissov spoke furiously and with unhindered anger. He banged his fist on the lectern, raised his voice and all but hissed at the camera. And all throughout – third – explained he would gladly give way to others but the protesters have failed to make their demands clear (except for resignation), have not presented a plan for what they want to achieve, how and with whom.
This is especially telling for how Borissov sees power. Which – granted – is understandable: between having been Bulgaria’s communist dictator Todor Zhivkov’s bodyguard (who was head of state for most of Bulgaria’s communist rule, until its collapse in 1989), spending the 90’s allegedly working for SIK – thought to be one of the foremost fronts of criminal organizations during the early transition years, and ending up having been PM of Bulgaria for more than a decade to date, his understanding of power is deeply rooted in the forceful acquisition of it. Yes - he said angrily – he and his party would gladly give the power to the protesters. But they, he explained in many words, have not proven to him they are deserving of it. In other words, the power – and mandate - of government is his by default, not the people’s. The decision to give it to the next contender is his to make.
The last third of the speech revealed the actual “decisions” he had taken. His party will prepare a draft of a new constitution. They will propose to Parliament to hold elections for a Grand Assembly. He listed a number of changes his party will propose as constitutional amendments. The tricky part of Borissov’s plan, however, is that almost all of these amendments do not require a Grand Assembly to be convened at all. So why is Borissov aiming at one?
Antigovernment protests are happening across the country (and beyond – Bulgarians living abroad have organized demonstrations supporting the protests in many cities across Europe and North America) and nearing their 40-th day. The protesters are sticking to two main demands: resignation of the entire government and Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. Throughout the period, Borissov has made several attempts to calm protesters with less, apparently hoping they would meet him half way. He removed ministers, spent incredible amounts of public money for giveaways to targeted groups to secure support, and bombarded the public space with an all-in array of PR to convince his government should carry out its full term, because otherwise the country would “collapse”. But the protests have not budged an inch from their original demands: anything other than the two resignations has till now not moved protesters at all. If anything, it motivated them further.
There are a few important aspects of the speech, aside from what Borissov actually proposes in it. The first two-thirds of it were purely political, and as such revealed some key points regarding his stance on the political crisis. First, he painted “the young” as a group, which has good intentions but was apparently tricked by “the oligarchy”, who in turn had “hijacked” their protest. It is unclear who Borissov views as the “oligarchy” but his personal and professional ties to it is what protesters define as the main reason for the seed rooted corruption in the country and the crucial element of the captured state. Second, Borissov spoke furiously and with unhindered anger. He banged his fist on the lectern, raised his voice and all but hissed at the camera. And all throughout – third – explained he would gladly give way to others but the protesters have failed to make their demands clear (except for resignation), have not presented a plan for what they want to achieve, how and with whom.
This is especially telling for how Borissov sees power. Which – granted – is understandable: between having been Bulgaria’s communist dictator Todor Zhivkov’s bodyguard (who was head of state for most of Bulgaria’s communist rule, until its collapse in 1989), spending the 90’s allegedly working for SIK – thought to be one of the foremost fronts of criminal organizations during the early transition years, and ending up having been PM of Bulgaria for more than a decade to date, his understanding of power is deeply rooted in the forceful acquisition of it. Yes - he said angrily – he and his party would gladly give the power to the protesters. But they, he explained in many words, have not proven to him they are deserving of it. In other words, the power – and mandate - of government is his by default, not the people’s. The decision to give it to the next contender is his to make.
The last third of the speech revealed the actual “decisions” he had taken. His party will prepare a draft of a new constitution. They will propose to Parliament to hold elections for a Grand Assembly. He listed a number of changes his party will propose as constitutional amendments. The tricky part of Borissov’s plan, however, is that almost all of these amendments do not require a Grand Assembly to be convened at all. So why is Borissov aiming at one?
Източник: mediapool.bg
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