If I were prime minister, I would never leave the country in such a situation. This was stated in the program "Speak Now" by the former prime minister, leader of the Party of European Socialists and the Bulgarian Socialist Party Sergey Stanishev.
"I believe that politicians should be able to bear responsibility, and resignation, in a sense, is an escape from this responsibility", said Stanishev.
In his words, "illusory well-being" was being created at the expense of the future of Bulgarian citizens.
"I want to address all politicians. In recent years, I have observed a process of constant flirting with people, and I would say bribery. With generous gestures that violated financial discipline and brought us to this budget, which was so widely rejected by both experts and the crowd in the square. Because this created an illusory well-being at the expense of our own future. At the expense of new debt, at the expense of large deficits. And this is quite dangerous.
And I want to emphasize that all the parties that have been in power since 2020 participated in this. And GERB, and PP, and BSP, all of them. There are no innocents. But no one has tried to stop this thing. And we got to the point where 20 billion leva of new debt is planned for a year. Do you understand what I'm talking about? And I want to emphasize one more thing, addressing the parties.
I see that some are currently celebrating, others are acting angry that they are not understood and appreciated, the ruling party, of course, that if I were prime minister, I would never leave the country in such a situation, before entering the euro, with all the risks that arise, without a budget that is working, that ensures a stable transition, instruments for the government to intervene and protect the people, because it is no secret - inflation this year was quite tangible for everyone. It is enough to go to the store regularly to see how the prices of a mass of goods, of most goods, were growing from week to week."
Two things have brought people to the streets, Stanishev also said.
"First, of course, the non-acceptance of this arrogance of the ruling party, which the prime minister himself said. By the way, when he resigned, he seemed in some sense relieved. And this is a message to all politicians at the moment. To have a sense of proportion and a little more humility. Because, as I said before, they have entered into a kind of pre-election speech. The rulers have been saying so far - "And now you will see what will happen to us when we are gone, what chaos will ensue." And those who are in opposition, especially PP-DB, who expect that they will win and they will certainly increase their representation as a result of protests, because they were the driving political force, along with "Vazrazhdane", that support will almost automatically come. If they behave irresponsibly, everyone will be punished.
Irresponsible means to let things go. Right now, it is imperative for me that the parliament does its job in the few weeks it has left. Probably, because I don't see how a government will be formed with this configuration. I don't see anyone wanting to form a government, but they must either adopt a budget that was still coordinated with the tripartite partners, with unions and with employers, or by adopting an extension of the budget for 2025, make adjustments that were also coordinated with the main socio-economic factors, so that people are not left unprotected in a situation where it is expected that there will be speculation with prices again."
According to Stanishev, an automatic extension of the budget will not work.
"Because there are a number of deformations that I think have been somewhat controlled in the amended budget. But besides that, the government in resignation simply has to do its job until the caretaker government starts working in terms of prices, because look, this transition is not easy. It is not easy psychologically for everyone, because I am also used to holding the Bulgarian lev in my hands - the stotinki, levchetas and banknotes, it is not easy for the economy either. This year, inflation increased as a result of expectations that were created for price increases, and every businessman said to himself "I'm not a fool, prices will increase anyway, and if I raise prices a little here now - does it work? It works."
One of the factors for the price increase was the budget, Stanishev is categorical.
"Because a 25% increase in the expenditure side of the budget in one year, with economic growth of 3%, is a complete adventure and this also pumps up inflation. And now such expectations have been created again, and I fear that there will be a lot of speculation if a clear brake is not put in place and clear political signals are not given by the parliament and the executive branch."
The former prime minister and leader of the BSP indicated that he was against the BSP entering the government and now the party will bear the consequences of this.
"It's no secret that I was against entering this coalition because I said, in my opinion, with good reason, that in this weak position in which the BSP finds itself, participating in such a heterogeneous coalition dominated by other political forces, as a junior partner, is very dangerous for the existence of the BSP in general. After this was not accepted, I tried to propose a draft resolution to the party Congress. It was in January of this year. Which would set conditions that were sufficiently specific and that were very constructive in my opinion, not obstructive, and this was rejected. And when you enter a government in a crooked way, in a weak position, without clear conditions and without a motivation that is publicly defensible as to why you are doing it, you will come out with heavy losses. Every government comes out with losses, the question is how severe, and now the BSP's situation is very bad."
Stanishev expects new political entities to join the election race.
"It seems to me that this energy that poured into the square, both with anger and optimism, because thanks to the young people who joined, it was obtained especially in the final phase of the protests, even as a happening, as a celebration, it should materialize through voting. Only through active participation in the elections can there be some more serious shift. And I would not be surprised if new political entities appear that everyone is talking about or everyone is expecting. I would not rule out that this generation Z will also appear with its own political entity that will somehow generate this energy, because one thing has become clear - the talk about the apoliticality of the young turned out to be a bluff. When you find the right way to communicate with them, and this happens mostly through social networks and TikTok, they are very active. Yes, there is a lot of naivety, there is sometimes unnecessary aggression, but is that really a commitment? But an even greater commitment is to go and vote in the elections."