39303 | 17 June 2025 | 22:17

The same people from the "business executive committee" on the previous vote for head of state chose Lozan Panov. Even earlier - in 2006, they also nominated the brilliant lawyer Nedelcho Beronov for presidential

Adelina Delyiska

 Yesterday, on June 16th, as it became known, marginalized representatives of the right-wing political space in our country gathered once again to discuss their potential unified presidential candidacy.

 At the round table entitled "Presidential Elections 2026: The Democratic Community on the Road to Victory", Ivan Kostov, Ekaterina Mikhailova, Prof. Vesselin Methodiev, politicians from the three formations - DSB, "Yes, Bulgaria" and CC, as well as public figures, sociologists and political scientists.

 Again because the same individuals from the "business executive" on the right chose Lozan Panov in the previous election for state head and it was seen what they did and how much support the former chairman of the Supreme Court received. As early as 2006, they once again nominated the brilliant lawyer Nedelcho Beronov for president and did everything they could to destroy the image of the good professional.

 I remind you that in the 2021 presidential elections, in the first round, the presidential ticket of Lozan Panov and Maria Kasimova-Moase won only 1.89% /792 ballots/ of the votes of Bulgarians who fulfilled their constitutional duty to vote.

 Behind Lozan Panov at that time was personally Ivan Kostov who publicly announced: "Lozan Panov is my representative in these elections."

 In 2006, with almost the same words, the "Commander" presented Beronov and the "blues" suffered loss again.

 It is striking that in both of the aforementioned examples, people were nominated who are great professionals in their fields, but practically unrecognizable to the majority of voters. In practice, the proposals of self-proclaimed right-wing candidates for presidents poured water in the mill of the left-wing proposals and thus in 2006, the right-wing did a favor to the left-wing president Georgi Parvanov, and in 2021, to BSP-supported Rumen Radev.

 So I don't know with what eyes now the same right-wing cadres, who back in time "grandfathered" unsuccessfully for other national candidates for public and political positions, who didn't bathe in national love, are now imposing candidates!

To be honest, their proposals in Sofia, Plovdiv and several other major cities at the municipal level seem to only appeal to their narrow-party supporters, while the rest of the voters simply fade away in their apathy and don't bother to vote.

 The organizers of the forum yesterday were the "old dogs" in politics from the Democratic Party (DSB), which was opened by the current leader of Ivan Kostov's party, Atanas Atanasov: "We are gathering for an important political occasion - the upcoming presidential elections. The democratic community is obligated to the Bulgarian society and we must achieve victory as a final result. I will allow myself to quote from the Bible: "There is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones." For a long time, we have been scattered, with different interests. Now is the time for us to come together and start preparing for the upcoming presidential elections. They are extremely important," he declared at the beginning of the event, and emphasized the necessity of a unified candidacy.

 His predecessor and founder of the UDF, Ivan Kostov, warned that the biggest risk in the presidential elections is for pro-Putin forces to once again choose a president for the country, which will be a heavy blow to our political life and political debate. "You can see how actively President Rumen Radev sets the tone for the political debate in Bulgaria, and it's a false tone, but that's what society follows," Kostov commented. He added that the presidential tribune is so high that it allows for a strong influence on public opinion.

 According to Prof. Veselin Metodiev, former vice-chairman of the UDF, if there is another president like Radev, there will be severe damage to the country's political orientation. Metodiev also believes that if there is a preliminary vote, the parties should guarantee at least four people in each polling section. He advises that both victory and defeat should be handled with dignity.

 Professor Ekaterina Mihaylova, current professor at NBU, former president of NS and "right hand" of the Commander, believes that this debate is neither early nor late. "I would say that it is just in time," she said and added that this makes things more difficult and complicated, as expectations are high and the risks of not meeting them are "potentially possible".

 She is right, it is potentially possible for the above-mentioned officials to nominate a "barren" candidacy for "Dondudov" 2 and even gather less than 1 percent of the "people's love" at the polls next year.