Bulgaria's Borisov Loses Ground and Temper

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (L) has ceded his traditional top standing in the ratings to his hard-line interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov (R). Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

By Vesselin Zhelev

waz.euobserver.com

Just over a year after taking office as Bulgaria's prime minister, Boyko Borisov has faced his first no-confidence vote in parliament. He comfortably survived it - not so much due to his own strength but rather thanks to the weakness of his opponents and his allies' fears of early elections.

On Friday (8 October), lawmakers voted 144-70 to keep Mr Borisov's centre-right minority government in office. The opposition, made up of the previously ruling Socialists and ethnic Turks, based the no-confidence motion on what they see as the cabinet's failure to reform the ailing health system.

Mr Borisov's party Gerb has 117 of a total of 240 seats in the unicameral chamber and governs with the consent of Ataka, a fervently nationalist group, and the conservative Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) of former premier Ivan Kostov.

Both of the latter parties have no ministers. Polls show they stand slim chances of entering the next legislature if the current government falls and precipitates early elections. Prior to the no-confidence vote however, the DSB repeatedly criticised Mr Borisov for incompetence and accused him of ducking out of starting painful reforms. The Socialist's electoral support is almost three times lower than Gerb's, which currently stands at 36 percent. The silent majority of disenchanted non-voters in Bulgaria is above 40 percent.

While still safely clinging to power in parliament, the once charismatic Mr Borisov is steadily losing ground outside it. His approval rating fell by seven percent to 49 percent in October from September and he ceded his traditional top standing in the ratings to his hard-line interior minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. The latter had a 54 percent approval rating, three percent down from September. The Mediana polling agency conducted the survey among 1,103 adults between 25 September and 1 October.

Another poll by the National Public Opinion Centre in late September showed the government was almost twice as unpopular than the Orthodox Church – in a country where truly religious people are a minority.

Public confidence in the government has dropped to 28 percent from 36 percent over the past seven months, while disappointment rose to 47 percent from 31 percent, Mediana reported.

Days before the vote, Mr Borisov appointed a third health minister within just 13 months. This prompted popular commentator Valery Naidenov to note that the premier is changing his health ministers faster than veteran Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor used to change her husbands. She married eight times within 36 years.

The severely underfunded health sector is the source of increasing discontent. It badly needs restructuring and is rife with corruption. A week ago, the government handed out the equivalent of some ?7 million of a total of ?100 million in backpay it owes to doctors to narrowly avoid a massive walkout in hospitals. Some of them have suspended vital functions due to debts.

Last Thursday, some 10,000 people rallied in Sofia to protest government pension reform plans, which would require many to work longer for retirement. Eurostat has listed Bulgaria among those EU countries with the fastest rising unemployment - it has climbed to just over 10 percent of the workforce last August from seven percent in the same month a year ago.

The International Monetary Fund has poured cold water on finance minister Simeon Djankov's projection of 3.6 percent economic growth next year up from 0.7 percent expected this year. The Fund forecast 0.4 percent growth this year and 2-2.5 percent in the next and urged the government to prepare "a plan B."

While demonstrating resolve to crush crime and corruption, Mr Borisov has been wobbling on a list of tough economic and political issues such as whether to raise taxes, the retirement age, health contributions and whether to scrap or build energy projects with Russia, including a second nuclear power plant in Bulgaria.

In a surprising display of weakness and exhaustion, the burly ex-bodyguard recently said on TV he was ready to resign in the event of a serious strike. "In case of a strike I quit," he told Canal 3 TV in an emotional tirade. "That's what I can. I do my best – from dawn to dark ... I gave my health, I gave my nerves."

"Premier Borisov will be increasingly alone and more and more often he will have to quell fires", Mediana chief Kolyo Kolev, a respected analyst, said. "He has to be a magician to squeeze out of this situation and take the country to a quieter and sunnier shore."

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!