Sofia Mayor: PM Stanishev Will Remain in History Wearing Fez

Sofia Mayor Borisov kissing a priest's cross at the opening of a new factory in Sofia Thursday. Photo by BGNES

The Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov accused Bulgaria's Socialist PM, Sergey Stanishev, of transfering electoral power to minority populated regions of the country.

"A day will come when history will decorate Stanishev with a large fez on his head, but a really large one", said Mayor Borisov, who is also the informal leader of the opposition center-right GERB part, apparently referring to the requirement for wearing a fez in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Borisov's statement was regarding the recent electoral system changes approved by the government of the three-way coalition (made up of the Socialist Party, the National Movement for Stability and Progress, and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS)), which provided for the election of 31 of Bulgaria's 240 MPs through majority representation.

Experts have commented that the changes practically give different voting power to regions with smaller population as each electoral district elects one MP despite their different populations.

"They are transferring mandates from the large cities - Sofia, Burgas, Varna, and Plovdiv - to districts like Silistra and Targovishte", Borisov said clearly stressing the fact that these regions had large populations of Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish minority, which traditionally votes for the DPS party.

Borisov made these statements Thursday during his visit to the Kliment Orhidski High School in Sofia, to which his party GERB donated a new dental cabinet, and electronic classroom whiteboards.

 

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