What will happen to Kandev, Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, and Ministers Emil Dechev and Andrey Yankulov? Their intransigence in the face of pressure has earned them sympathy and expectations that they will remain in politics, which needs people with a backbone.
"Gentlemen, don't go home!" - this is how the expectations for some of the rulers in the last weeks of the official cabinet can be summarized. In the election campaign, Acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Georgi Kandev addressed the police with: “Colleagues, don't go home! Get out!”, in order to counteract vote buying. Today, a similar call – to remain in power, is heard by many - both about Kandev and some of the caretaker ministers.
Is such a transition possible? The answer will be given by the composition of the future government of “Progressive Bulgaria”, which will be determined by the leader Rumen Radev. Ministers from his caretaker governments will return to the executive branch. They were his advisors in the presidential institution and followed him when he left it. Thus, they became a natural personnel reserve for his administration.
What will happen to Kandev, with the caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, the caretaker ministers Emil Dechev and Andrey Yankulov, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice, respectively? They will not create parties, they will continue their career development in other areas. But their intransigence in the face of pressure and their combativeness in the election campaign won them public sympathy and expectations to remain in politics, which needs people with backbone.
Platform for politics
From “temporary ministers“ to permanent players – this is how the evolution of participants in the caretaker cabinets in recent years can be described. Appointed with a limited horizon, some of them subsequently became some of the most recognizable new faces in Bulgarian politics.
The caretaker government launched not only politicians Kiril Petkov, Assen Vassilev and Daniel Lorer, but also an entire party – “We Continue the Change”, from whose ranks the current caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov is also. The Minister of Interior Emil Dechev was Deputy Minister of Justice in two caretaker and two regular governments, and Andrey Yankulov - Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Interior in a caretaker cabinet and in the Ministry of Justice in a regular one.
What they have in common is not only the accumulated administrative experience. Their career path speaks of serious experience in the judicial system, as well as clearly stated positions and actions in support of the rule of law - a profile that also explains the expectations that they will continue in politics. This would no longer be a surprise. In recent years, caretaker cabinets have increasingly turned out to be not only an instrument for stabilization in a crisis, but also a mechanism for selecting and legitimizing a new political elite.
Gyurov - a candidate for president?
At first glance, the path before Andrey Gyurov seems open. With the determination he demonstrates, the clearly stated pro-European line and active communication, he has established himself as the face of a more modern Bulgarian politics. Gyurov has already been presented as the unopposed presidential candidate of the democratic community. (And this before the community itself has reached a decision on the mechanism for nominating such a candidate, which it has been discussing for almost a year). Andrey Gyurov turns out to be the only figure for whom there is agreement in both “We Continue the Change“ and “Democratic Bulgaria”, despite the tension between them. And because of this, he is also burdened with greater expectations - for example, to be a unifying figure beyond the presidential candidate campaign.
But Nikolay Denkov's early statement that Gyurov is being discussed as a presidential candidate in the PP may play a bad joke. It takes the candidacy out of the zone of silent consent and into the public conversation, where alternatives, reservations and political egos will inevitably appear. Gyurov himself is waiting. He told the Bulgarian National Radio that such decisions are not made ”emotionally, but in a process that takes time and calm”. However, in order to reach a runoff, a broader unity will be needed behind his possible candidacy, beyond the PP-DB formations.
People are wanted for the Temple of Themis
Until the announcement of the ministers in the government of “Progressive Bulgaria”, speculation will continue as to whether figures associated with Ahmed Dogan's MRF will find a place in it, including the current Minister of Social Affairs, Dr. Hasan Ademov. A significant part of Bulgarian Muslims supported Rumen Radev and there may be appointments - if not in the first, then in the second echelon of power.
At the same time, the forecasts for the future cabinet do not include a single name for the Ministry of Justice. Candidates are also to be nominated for the Supreme Judicial Council - from the parliamentary and professional quota, and at a later stage for the posts of Prosecutor General and Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC). Acting Minister of Justice Yankulov has prepared criteria for the nomination of a candidate for titular Prosecutor General, which he will leave to the regular cabinet. In general, people are being sought for the Temple of Themis, and there are still people for the marketplace.
Ultimately, the question is not only who will enter the next government, but whether the energy accumulated from the official government will be used for the benefit of society or wasted. If people who have shown resilience and the ability to act under pressure are removed from politics, this will lower the expectations for change expressed in the civil protests. However, if they find a place, either in the executive branch, the judiciary, or through future candidacies, then the service cabinets have transformed from a transitional mechanism into a real personnel filter for Bulgarian politics.
So let them not go home.
This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State Gazette as a whole.