Bulgaria Blue Coalition MP Asen Agov: Motivation of GERB Government Is Impressive

Interview with Asen Agov, Member of the Bulgarian Parliament from the rightist Blue Coalition.

Asen Agov was born in Sofia in 1948. He graduated with a degree in international economic relations from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia in 1972. Agov worked as a journalist at the Bulgarian information agency BTA in 1971-1985, and then worked at the Bulgarian National Television (BNT). He was the director of the BNT in 1992-1993. He has been an MP from the rightist UDF since 1995. He is currently an MP of the rightist DSB party, which is part of the Blue Coalition supporting the GERB government. Agov is a Deputy Chair of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

 

More than two months after Bulgaria’s new government of the GERB party led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov assumed office, how do you assess its first steps, its work, and its potential to complete successfully its four-year term?

Any assessment now would be too hasty. But for a country in crisis such as Bulgaria, the Finance Minister has initiated moves in the right direction. The timely preparation of the mid-term financial framework and of the draft 2010 State Budget have confirmed this.

The measures in the next year’s budget contain stimuli for the economy such as public investments. The motivation of the cabinet and the Prime Minister to stick to their election campaign promises despite the very tough heritage of the three-way coalition is impressive. There are signs suggesting that the trust of Bulgarians and Europeans in the government of the country is returning.

With its support for the government, the Blue Coalition is pratically part of a center-right ruling majority. What are the issues on which the Blue Coalition and GERB have serious differences, what could create cracks in your current partnership?

We support the government because 90% of our political platforms coincide. Our support for GERB will be have its first very difficult test when we consider the new 2010 State Budget. I have not looked at it in detail so I cannot say whether there are serious differences in our positions.

This budget must stimulate the deep restructuring of the Interior Ministry, and to speed up the reforms in health care and education. The debate on state revenue and expenditures for next year is going to make it clear how similar are the financial and economic policies of GERB and the Blue Coalition.

What are the dividing lines between GERB, the UDF and the DSB – the three Bulgarian parties that are members of the European People’s Party?

There dividing lines are defined by the voters of the Blue Coalition and GERB respectively.

Even though it is a young political formation, the GERB party is emerging as a serious center-right party of Gaullist type. Is GERB’s rise threatening to replace and marginalize the traditional right in Bulgaria represented by the DSB and the UDF, the descendants of the emblematic Union of Democratic Forces from the 1990s?

If the Blue Coalition and GERB have their distinct groups of voters, there is no way this could happen. It is in the best interest of the Bulgarian right to encompass the whole range of democrats in order to provide for the progress and modernization of Bulgaria, which needs a stable and progressive government.

One of the founders of the UDF, President Zhelyu Zhelev, recently put forth the idea for changing Bulgaria’s form of government from a parliamentary republic to a presidential one, the catalyst of this idea being the current Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov? What do you think about this idea?

I am a follower of another school of thought. The direct election of the President in a parliamentary republic such as Bulgaria gives the head of state a very powerful mandate and very little power.

In order to comply with the power of its mandate, the President – actually, all Bulgarian Presidents have done that so far – starts to meddle in the affairs of the executive branch, thus disrupting the harmony between the institutions.

Especially annoying are the actions of Parvanov who patched together the miserable for Bulgaria three-way coalition in order to guarantee his second term. Not less damaging to the country are his pro-Moscow energy initiatives which nearly plunged Bulgaria in isolation from its Euro-Atlantic allies.

Bulgaria needs a new Constitution introducing a second level of local government – i.e. district governments that are elected by the people, providing those parliamentary representation of those governments in the Parliament, and reducing the number of MPs in the national chamber.

If the Parliament has two chambers – a national one, and another one of the district governments – totaling fewer deputies than we have today, then the President will have to be elected by them, and will have purely ceremonial functions – the way it is in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece.

Of course, the districts must be only six – they must be the same as the six planning regions under our EU policies. They can assume many of the functions of the central government, so that it will have to deal only with national security, foreign policy, and infrastructure.

In this way, the government will be closer to the people, and the central authority will be more stable.

The constitutional amendments must be preceded by the adoption of a new elections code removing the existing flawed election practices. We hope that with joint efforts we will be able to achieve that with GERB.

You were recently cited in an article of the 168 Chasa Weekly regarding the drafting of a Lustration (i.e. limiting the participation of former communists) Act stipulating that collaborators or agents of the former State Security will have to leave any government positions they may be holding. Would the adoption of such a law mean that President Parvanov will be forced to step down? Are you working on such a law, and do you think that the Bulgarian society needs it?

A working group has been set up by representatives of the Blue Coalition and GERB. Lustration means “illuminating, casting light on something”. Our society needs this casting of light in order to break once and for all with its communist past.

Today collaborators of the communist repressive bodies occupy high public positions – such as Parvanov or some media owners – and they influence negatively the free choice of the Bulgarian people. This is how freedom and the political system that guarantees it are being destroyed.

How likely is it that law will be adopted in such a form that it will lead to Parvanov’s removal from office? Is GERB going to support it since it would also mean the removal of Bozhidar Dimitrov from his ministerial position?

If such measures are included in the new status of the Parliament, there is no reason not to adopt such a law. The working group and the leaders of the Parliamentary Groups of the Blue Coalition and GERB can guarantee a convincing majority in favor of the law through efficient consultations. If it is adopted, Parvanov and Dimitrov will become objects of the law.

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