The reduction in the number of election sections in countries outside the European Union will make it more difficult for Bulgarians to vote abroad and may lead to an outflow of voters, especially in Turkey. This was commented on by journalist Mehmed Umer in the program “Offensive“.
According to him, the formal right to vote is not being taken away, but access to it is being narrowed. “All Bulgarian citizens have the right to vote, the question is in what format and how difficult it will be to exercise this right“, Umer pointed out.
The journalist noted that the interest of expatriate communities in Bulgarian politics has been declining for years. According to him, this is due to both demographic and generational factors, as well as political processes in our country.
According to Umer, the picture in Turkey is fundamentally different from previous years, because after the emergence of new formations, the expatriates have become confused, and the traditional party inertia has weakened.
“People voted by abbreviation for many years. MRF was the recognizable name. Now that no longer works“, explained the journalist. According to him, the main methods of influence remain agitation through ballot number, ethnicity and local networks.
A key factor in the loss of trust among expatriates is the absence of Ahmed Dogan from active political life, Umer believes. “People rely on the myth of the leader, and the image of the leader is absent – "It's not at rallies, it's not among the people, including in Turkey," he said.
Yümer stressed that a growing number of voters - both at home and abroad - are distancing themselves from politics. "People are withdrawing, but they are also starting to distinguish more clearly which groups are acting in their interests and which are not," he said.