Public debates around Bulgarian politics are once again focusing on suspicions of bought votes and erosion of trust in the electoral process, against a backdrop of fear and political uncertainty.
The bought vote
"For now, the Ministry of Interior is trying to expel them. Primitive and totalitarian developed societies, in which all decisions are made from one place, do not lead to development. There will be no development if there is no market. The most important thing is to preserve competition and rivalry. Another issue is that there are force majeure circumstances in which it is necessary to temporarily suspend the market element and regulate it, suddenly the state becomes very important. Something similar is happening in the field of the degradation of democracy, "said social anthropologist Haralan Alexandrov in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
In his words, one of the manifestations of this process is the despair from the political process to the point of interpreting it as trade.
"This is not new, it coincided with another process of degradation of political culture, not just of the political process. We call it a chronic crisis, but the truth is that the deep meaning of the political is beginning to be replaced. People stopped seeing it as a project for a better future, an occasion for development, innovative policies," Alexandrov added on Bulgaria ON AIR.
The Political Campaign
He is of the opinion that we are currently observing "a certain calming and normalization" in the current political campaign.
"I really hope that we will not witness ugly scenes. But since Jesus will not come to expel the vote traders, we have to do it ourselves, or maybe we still believe in a miracle, hoping that the miracle will come from outside. The main thing I am researching is not the current rating of the parties. It is clear that there will be five, maybe six participants in the next parliament. My focus is on the emotional politics and emotional economy behind political decisions," the guest emphasized.
According to him, Bulgarians will vote in these elections with fear and anxiety.
"The world has become very complex, largely unmanageable. The state, its institutions and their good functioning are terribly important. My feeling is that our entire elite, including the European one, is preparing for yesterday - for the previous war. And this raises a lot of concern, people do not realize it directly. The main focus of the excitement around this campaign is geopolitics. I have never seen more left-wing students. They talk about large international corporations. There is a powerful leftist wave that needs to be contained," commented Haralan Alexandrov.
Radev's program
He admitted that for him one of the surprises was that "Progressive Bulgaria" has presented an orthodox neoliberal program.
"At the moment it is dangerous to say anything, it requires a lot of courage to declare that you will change something. We will again have a parliament in which it is impossible for one force to dominate, it will be necessary to enter into a negotiation mode, even if you want to trade. The institutions must be normalized, legitimacy and trust must be restored, which is fatally low", the social anthropologist is categorical.
"There is a very high risk of losing trust not only in the state, not only in the institutions, but also in ourselves. This will be the end of Bulgaria as a society. We have invested too much in self-destruction, radicalization, and hatred," he concluded.
Alexandrov believes that a government between Borisov and Radev is not possible.
"Radev wants to be a powerful leader who will control the processes in the country and follow a neoliberal Euro-Atlantic line. Kostadinov speaks very softly, with concern, and says terribly radical things, but he says them politely. More morally and intellectually mature politicians have a deep awareness that we are walking on thin ice and that we are close to the edge.