Bulgaria's Ruling Party GERB: Armed and Dangerous

Editorial |Author: Ognian Kassabov | March 16, 2011, Wednesday // 11:57|  views

Giving pride of place to adherence to the party line over sound thinking might be characteristic of Bulgaria’s center-right GERB, but when it comes together with support for the free owning of guns, something really wrong must be going on.

This week GERB parliamentary group chair Krasimir Velchev gave an interview for the 24 Chasa wide-circulation daily, in which, among other things, he advanced some theses that went largely unnoticed by Bulgarian commentators, but are highly symptomatic of GERB’s style of action and level of insight into the very nature of political life.

Asked about the phenomenon of MPs leaving their parliamentary groups, Velchev quite naturally expressed disapproval, arguing that radical dissent means that one should resign as MP rather than stay in parliament under the banner of something else than the party that nominated him.

He further assured no such splitting is to be expected in the group he chairs, and lamented internal dissent in the cabinet-supporting, extreme nationalist party Ataka.

All that might be well, had not the GERB front-bencher substantiated his reasoning with the following piece of wisdom: “I love God’s Ten Commandments of Politics written by a US political institute. One of them is: A gram of loyalty is worth a kilo of intellect.”

Of course there is a certain stylistic awkwardness in claiming that God’s Ten Commandments were written by “a US political institute.” The crucial part though is the last sentence, Velchev’s simple-hearted but apparently earnest admission of what even stray dogs in Bulgaria have been certain for months now: GERB is not about brains, it is about rash leadership decisions and disciplined support.

In order not to get into philosophical reflections about the worth of loyalty devoid of reason, just think of what some ordinary people did under the Nazi regime. Of course GERB is nowhere near the NSDAP and the comparison might be seen as far fetched, but indeed the principle in both cases is the same.

Then in the 24 Chasa interview you get Velchev’s gun argument and things start looking somewhat worrisome.

Ordinary Bulgarians need to be able to own and carry private weapons for self-defense, and in order to protect themselves from criminals, claimed the center-right MP.

When asked about the possibility of an increase in violence, injuries and deaths, Velchev answered: “As things stand now, many people do illegally possess weapons. When there are rules, honest folk will have weapons too.” Oh the immaculate logic and the homey rhetoric of “honest folk.”

What Velchev missed is that calling for gun ownership in a country that has no tradition in this is plain out saying the police chronically incapable in doing their job. Which is precisely what the GERB cabinet, and in particular vice-PM and Interior Minister (and GERB vice-chair) Tsvetan Tsvetanov, don’t want you to think.

Velchev, notwithstanding, did not stop there. He further mused on the value of military training for citizens’ moral character and work ethic – and astoundingly argued that Bulgarians need to be armed and prepared, just in case a war erupts. “Think about it: if, God forbid, a local war erupts, whom are we going to rely upon? Perhaps upon those few thousand hired soldiers that we now have?”

If Velchev’s low esteem of the work of the Ministry of Interior was implicit, this time his words directly meant that the Ministry of Defense and the Bulgarian Army are completely inadequate to their calling.

(Perhaps Velchev had not heard about NATO before. At any rate he appears to be unaware of the difference between “hired” and “professional” soldiers.)

It goes without saying that given his principle of loyalty, the GERB top functionary did not mean to criticize the cabinet formed by his own party. He simply did not know what he was saying. That’s were placing a meager value on a kilo of intellect will lead you.

It also goes without saying that Velchev’s words further imply he thinks that two key pillars of the nation’s sovereignty and the rule of law – the army and the police – are deeply dysfunctional in their very nature. And that their role might be better served by militias composed of “honest folk” – presumably GERB loyalists.

Or maybe Velchev was simply saying that his party intends to take up guerilla warfare once it loses the next general elections.

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Tags: GERB, GERB cabinet, Bulgarian Parliament, Ataka, Krasimir Velchev, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Bulgarian Army, army police, guns

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